The Second Impression: A Rogue Ninja's Purpose
by 2Face's Number 1 Fan
Summary: This story is NOT a continuation of the First Impression, but more like a spinoff of a spinoff. What will happen to Haku and Zabuza's friends after the original group has split up into 3 groups?
1. The Ultimate Mission: 1: The Beginning

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 1: The Beginning...**_

_**Quick Author's Note (PLEASE READ THIS!): You will most likely not understand this story unless you have read the entire First Impressions series, which is very much related to this one, only it is an ENTIRELY different plot and storyline. ...Okay, maybe a touch of the previous storyline is involved (like Hikaru plus Omari, Omari's dagger, Kamichi's issues, and so on). The only similar thing is that there are the same characters with the same goals and whatnot. I know this chapter's a little shorter than usual, but we can live with ONE short chapter, can't we:)**_

_**BUT TO ALL FIRST IMPRESSIONS READERS, DON'T FRET! IT'S THE SAME OLD STUFF, JUST A NEW STORY. SORT OF LIKE A CONTINUATION, BUT NOT REALLY BECAUSE OF THE NEW PLOTTING. THERE'S ANOTHER WORD FOR IT, BUT I CAN'T THINK OF IT RIGHT NOW...o.o...TELL ME IF YOU KNOW!!**_

_**In case your memory of the previous series is already little hazy (sigh), the characters in this story are, of course, Haku (is a ghost, but he still has many appearances to come despite the fact that I fiendishly blew him off during the last ten chappies of the First Impression), Zabuza, (same), Tarina (deceased but still there) Omari, Kamichi, Slicer, Zamu, Tomozaku, Ryo, Master Atoshi, Toshiro (deceased, but still makes appearances) Cyclone (the newest), Midori, Masakaru, Hikaru, Cocoa and Nibbles (if you count the animals), and there will be a few more to come. **_

_**Also, besides for Haku and Zabuza, the main characters are a group called the Kingpin Kunais (now Omari, Zamu, Slicer, and Hikaru). Tarina used to physically be on the team, but she's sacrificed her life for Omari and so she is the forevermore-spiritual leader of the Kingpin Kunais. Kamichi quit the Kingpin Kunais after a while, realizing that his previous intentions were nothing but evil and so he set out on his own to become a better person. He is definitely included in the story, along with the remainder of Squad 101 (Midori, Masakaru, Kouki), which is the crew that Kamichi had joined after quitting the Kingpin Kunais. But, I'm not going to get into that now, because it'll take up the entire chapter to explain. Just send me a message if you have any unanswered questions about Series 1, okay? Don't hesitate!! ;)**_

_**If you haven't read my previous series pertaining to this one (First Impressions: Haku's Training Days), then I strongly suggest you read it now or later, or at least BEFORE you read this one so you get the understanding of exactly who my own characters (which definitely overpopulate the already made characters) really are. And yet, I'm not making you do anything, so don't blow up at me saying, "You can't tell me what to do!"**_

_**TO ALL NEW READERS: I welcome you to 2Face's Number 1 Fan's newest (and hopefully one of my best) creations. Anyway, if you're getting a bit impatient and want to blow off the First Impressions series and skip to this one, then I guess that's perfectly fine with me (I emphasize the words, 'I GUESS'). I'm sure you'll catch on somehow, although at this point of my story, it may seem very much like continuation. But...do what you want. If you want to misunderstand the whole thing, that is fine with me, like I said before. But If you've already went back to read it, then good job!! You will hopefully enjoy this whole story with full understanding. ;)**_

_**Happy Reading, to my wonderful readers, experienced and new!! I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Tell me how I did later:)**_

_**...January 9th, 12:00 P.M...**_

"You think she's okay, Your Goonliness?" Cyclone whispered quietly to his master, eyeing Omari with worry.

Hikaru glanced at her and sighed. "I don't know. I...I think she's just depressed because it's Haku's birthday, and...well, he's dead." He shrugged. He sort of felt weird about the whole thing. He was deeply in love with Omari, but Omari had been deeply in love with Haku before, but now he was dead. Of course, Haku had told Hikaru that he could have Omari in one of his dreams, but Hikaru still got that uncomfortable chill whenever he thought about it.

Especially after the way Haku and Hikaru had brutally fought and conflicted over a year ago in the Spirit Environment, back when Hikaru had been a ghost. That certainly wasn't a pleasant memory for Omari. It was quite obvious that she wanted Haku back in the real world. As a human again.

As someone she could see and talk to every day. And love.

Hikaru shivered again. He needed Omari more than anything. If he ended up not being with her...then he knew that he would take it out on himself and start hating everything and everybody again. He could even end up hurting himself for being so depressed. The very thought made him angry and scared. He never wanted to be a mirthless pyromaniac again.

"Hey, Your Goonliness..." Cyclone whispered again as he continued to watch Omari pack for their upcoming mission in about seven hours. "Have you noticed that Omari never got you back? Y'know, for forcing a kiss on her when we were trying to hide the dagger?"

"Yeah..." Hikaru nodded slightly. "But wait...isn't that a good thing? Because I certainly don't want Slicer or Zamu finding out, or Omari beating me up or anything."

"It's not a good thing!" Cyclone protested. "It means that she either LOVED the kiss, which I doubt, or she's totally out of spirit. I mean, haven't you noticed her behavior patterns changing? She's depressed, and it wont be good for any of us."

"Exactly," Hikaru said. "Like I said before, it's January 9th. It's Haku's birthday, and Omari's upset."

"Not the point!" Cyclone whispered furiously. "I'm talking about our job tonight! If she's out of willpower and stamina because of her depression, then how are we supposed to complete it without her working at full effort?! Omari's our leader, and it's a star-ranked mission we're talkin' about here!! Star-ranked! Not an A or S-ranked. These missions are where the Sannin get their fame from!"

Hikaru snorted. "Okay, Cyclone. I think you're overreacting a little too much here. 'Star-ranked'? I've never even heard of that kind of mission. And besides, Omari's not gonna screw up the mission just 'cause she's sad. I mean, her anger and sadness may make her even more powerful than before, although I don't think we'll need _that_ much power. It's just an A-ranked mission, Cyclone. Just like any other normal mission, only we have to find something and maybe fight a few people. That's all."

"Nuh-uh!!" Cyclone protested. "The Hidden Rock Village is a dangerous, dangerous place!! It's crawling with beats and horrifying rogue ninja that'll wanna eat us for dinner! Especially in the sacred Avalanche Temple, a.k.a the Land of Exiles. This is serious stuff!"

"_We're _the bad guys, remember?" Hikaru said in an annoyed tone, rolling his eyes. "No rogue ninja are gonna be after us unless we have some competition who are also after the Rainbow Boulder. If anyone's gonna be hunting us down, it'll be those goody-goodies, and that will be only if they get word that we're trespassing in their stupid temple in the middle of their stupid rocky desert. Duh! You're such a goon sometimes, you know that?"

"Okay, Your Goonliness. Whatever you say." Cyclone sighed, but eyeing Hikaru in a way that was practically screaming, 'You still better watch out for yourself on that mission, or you'll be sorry.' Cyclone then hopped down from Hikaru's shoulder and casually walked to the bathroom.

Hikaru snorted.

Cyclone's body had ended up not super sizing in the past month like Hikaru had expected. He had grown one or two, had claws, and grew fangs that popped out on summoning, but nothing really significant. Sadly, Cyclone had probably reached his final form already. It must have been some kind of birth defect, or it could have been due to the fact that Cyclone had never received the correct type of nourishment from his mother (who was now completely out of existence) like he was supposed to. He was forever a childlike form of monstrosity, his only hope of becoming stronger being able to summon chakra at an even more amazing level than he was at now.

However, size did not stop Cyclone at all. He was actually quite proud of his abilities to be sneaky and swift whenever he needed to. The fact that his bottomless stomach pouch had not closed up due to non-bodily maturity was a good thing. His chakra abilities were amazing, and he could easily summon it due to his small form. Some of his jutsus mirrored Hikarus due to recent training, but weren't as powerful. Cyclone was proud of himself and even of his devotion to Hikaru. Instead of wearing the blue shorts, he had decided to wear a diabolical-looking cape and a mini-Kingpin Kunais headband. On missions, he even wore spiky black-and-purple armor (like Hikaru used to have) to protect his whole body and look cool at the same time.

Meanwhile, Omari looked over at Hikaru with something weird in her eyes. "Hey...Hikaru...do you know when Ryo and Tomozaku are coming over here? They're supposed to be here by now to get ready for the mission with us..." Omari said. The two boys were supposed to be coming along on the Kingpin Kunais' mission as well, but they were supposed to be at the hideout over an hour ago for preparation.

Hikaru shrugged and casually walked away to his room to do nothing in particular. He didn't need to pack. He had been clever enough to do it the night before so he could spend the afternoon before the mission doing whatever he wanted.

Just then, there was a small knock on the front door.

"Oh! That must be them..." Omari said, turning. She briskly walked from the kitchen over to the front door and opened it. She twitched when she saw who it was. "Uuuuh..."

"Hi, Omari!" Midori cooed with a giant smile on her face. "How are you doing?" She said cheerily, standing in the doorway along with Masakaru and their two younger new teammates.

"Uh...good...?" Omari replied uncertainly, still eyeing Midori and her squad strangely. It just seemed so awkward. They hadn't seen what was now called Squad 211 in over six months. "C-Can I...help you guys? You see...we were just in the middle of getting ready for a long mission tonight, and-"

"A mission!? Cool!" Midori said in a sort of enthused tone. "Well, ya see, since we haven't seen you guys in such a long time, we just wanted to stop by to visit! You know, see how you're doing!"

Omari couldn't help noticing the super-duper annoyed look on Masakaru's face. Although Midori and Masakaru were what anybody would consider a couple, Masakaru still didn't agree with a bunch of things Midori said or did. Their other teammates, Kanaye and Zinan, were staring dreamily at Midori, as usual, but it was pretty obvious that Midori had made them come and visit along with her, even though Kanaye and Zinan would have tried to follow anyway.

"O-Oh...okay. Come on in, then." Omari said uncomfortably, stepping aside so the team could enter. Even though she felt a bit weird about Midori and her team coming over for a visit, it somehow felt good to have company at this time. It sort of cheered Omari up on the inside.

After they were all inside of the house and the front door was shut, Omari immediately went back to packing. She knew she should have been speaking with them and asking them how they were doing, but a seam in her overloaded backpack was horribly ripped and she needed to sew it back together, which would probably take hours for Omari, since she was so clumsy with her hands (they shook whenever she was trying to handle something small, like a needle).

Midori was aimlessly wandering around the hideout without comment, just staring at the place. It was a nice, clean hideout, and it was quite larger than a usual hideout. It seemed more like a work base, except it had bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. It was so weird yet comforting...she felt as if she was at home, even though she had only been in their hideout once before.

Kanaye was just staring at Midori from afar, oblivious to anything else.

Zinan rolled his eyes and tried to shake him out of the trance. "Dude, snap out of it. Even though she thinks you're 'baby-cute', Midori's too old for you. Besides, she already has Masakaru."

"I know, but...isn't she awesome?" Kanaye said in a hushed whisper, not taking his eyes off of Midori. He knew he'd never have a chance with her because he was only ten years old, but still.

Zinan wrinkled his eyebrows. He had a crush on Midori, too, but he at least realized that being with her would be unreal. "Yeah, she is, but it's best to get ridda goals that you most likely will never achieve while you still know it, right? I mean, soon you'll forget that there's no way she'll be your girlfriend and you'll end up disappointing yourself."

Kanaye was too distracted to reply.

Meanwhile, Hikaru strolled out of his room and headed for the kitchen, bored. He had heard somebody come in, and figured that it was Ryo and Tomozaku who had come in the door. Hikaru turned the corner and took an unexpected glance at Midori. He immediately slapped his hand over his mouth to stifle his frightened scream.

Midori had heard it. She and looked a bit disturbed and confused. She looked around to see the source of the high-pitched squeal, but Hikaru already ran into the living room and loudly dove behind the sofa to take cover. He simply wasn't in the mood to be snuggled/attacked by Midori right now. It hadn't happened in a very long time, and he certainly hadn't missed it.

"Hmm?" Midori felt the thump from underneath her feet. Midori raised her eyebrows, as confused as ever. She curiously stepped into the living room, which was where she swore she could have heard the sound from. She walked around a bit, then looked behind the sofa. She smiled politely. "Oh, hi, Hikaru!"

"Eeeep! D-Don't come any closer! N-No more cuddling! P-Please! It gives me nightmares!!" Hikaru stammered frightfully, huddling in the corner in a sort of protective manner. His eyes were wide open.

"Huh?" Midori was stumped.

"Y-You're just b-biding your time, waiting for the right time to strike, aren't you!?" Hikaru quivered. "You're going to grab me and kiss me and hug me, like you always do! But this time, I wont let you!!"

"Hmm? What're you- ooh!" Midori smiled in realization. It had been so long, that she had forgotten all about what she had used to do to Hikaru. "I get it now."

"What do you mean?!" Hikaru cried. "You have me cornered, and you're pretending that you don't know what you usually do to me!! Stop torturing me! I surrender! J-Just get on with it already!" He said. If Midori was going to glomp and repeatedly kiss him, then she might as well get it over with now.

Midori giggled. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me anymore, honey. I'm with Masakaru now."

"Wha...? Really?!" Hikaru almost fainted with relief, a twitchy smile forming on his face. If Midori was in love with Masakaru more than Hikaru, then he wouldn't have to put up with Midori's cuddling sessions anymore. It was almost too good to be true.

Hikaru suddenly gasped as he heard somebody walk out of the bathroom and tiny footsteps pitter-pattering across the wooden-tile floor.

This wouldn't turn out too good.

"Cyclone!! Uuh...just...report to my room now!! Hurry up!" Hikaru screamed desperately to the approaching little shadow slave. He couldn't let Midori see Cyclone, or else it would be all over.

"Huh?" Midori just looked at him, confused. She obviously didn't know whom in the world Hikaru was talking to.

"N-Nothing!!" Hikaru cried, quickly standing up. The twitchy smile on his face grew even twitchier and he ran his hand through his hair nervously. Hikaru gasped as he suddenly saw Cyclone, who was coming up behind Midori with a confused look on his face. "No, don't!! Cyclone!"

"Hikaru, what's your problem?" Cyclone cocked his head and put his little hands on his hips, flashing Hikaru a weird yet stern look. Cyclone's voice instantly made Midori turn in surprise. "First I hear you screaming when I was _trying_ to take a pee, and now you're telling me to- aaaahhh! Put me down! What're you doing to me?!"

"Ohmygosh!! You are SO cute!" Midori squealed in a happy high-pitched voice, instantly snatching poor Cyclone off of the ground and squeezing him in her arms affectionately. "Look how soft and fuzzy and teeny you are! And you sound _just_ like a little Hikaru, which makes you even cuter!!"

"H-Heeeey! Just who do you think you are, goon?! I'm NOT your stuffed animal! Put me down this instant! Aaaaargh!" Cyclone screamed, enraged that anybody would dare to handle him in such a manner that made him feel inferior to the human race.

"M-Midori! Take it easy! Shadow creatures are people, too! Cyclone hates it when people grab him like that!" Hikaru yelled frantically as Cyclone desperately kicked and squirmed.

Midori was oblivious to all voices right now. The only thing she was interested in was squeezing Cyclone half to death. "You're just the cutest little thing in the world!!" She giggled, kissing Cyclone on the cheek.

"Eeeeeeek! Hikaru, get this scary lady away from me!! Haaalp!!" Cyclone cried frightfully, already almost exhausted from all of the full-effort fighting he did. It just wasn't fair. Being the size of a one-year-old old baby wasn't easy at all. Especially since he had soft fur, a little rounded belly, those big puppy eyes, and his harmless kitten paws. He was irresistible for pet-loving girls like Midori.

"Hee hee! Okay, I'll let you go now." Midori smiled, finally releasing him after realizing how much Cyclone was resisting her love. Cyclone fell to the ground on his behind, got up, and scrambled away from her with a super-scared look in his eyes.

As Cyclone ran and hid behind Hikaru (scornfully peeking at Midori every so often), Hikaru laughed. "Now you know how I used to feel."

"Hmph. Humans. They have no regard whatsoever for the mental well-being of a shadow slave..." Cyclone harrumphed, secretly realizing with embarrassment how ridiculously scared he had been. He crossed his arms, dusted himself off, and walked away grumbling.

"Aww! He was so adorable!" Midori gushed joyfully, turning back to Hikaru. "I want one! Where'd you get him?"

"A Summoning Scroll. Fortunately, he's one of a kind." Hikaru smiled ruefully. "Trust me, you wouldn't want one of my shadow slaves living in your house. They're a handful. Especially the younger ones. And it's even worse when they get big and ugly and overprotective of you."

"Hm..." Midori mumbled thoughtfully, nodding slightly.

"Hey...who's that kid over there?" Hikaru asked, looking over at Kanaye. "He's always staring at you and pays attention to nothing else...why?" He said.

"Huh? Oh, that's Kanaye." Midori said smoothly without answering the second question.

Hikaru instantly understood why Midori hadn't bother to answer his last question. It was only natural that Kanaye had a major crush on Midori, like almost every younger boy did. If Hikaru had been a few years younger and wasn't a celebrity to Midori already, then perhaps Hikaru would have fell in love with her, too. It was a stupid question, and both he and Midori knew it.

"Midori..." Hikaru raised his eyebrows, ready to ask a very bold question. "Uh...I'm not sure how to ask this correctly, but, uh...how does it feel to be _you_? Y'know, to have bunch of different guys having crushes on you, whether they're younger or the same age as you? Do you like it?"

Midori suddenly looked sort of upset. She sighed. "No. I hate it, to tell you the truth. Sometimes, I can use it as an advantage, but most of the time, it gets quite aggravating. I mean, younger boys like Kanaye just don't understand. Kanaye's one of the nicer ones, but I've actually had two boys from different squads fight over me in the past, and neither one of them I liked. The guys often get aggressive. I feel like I'm causing trouble all of the time without even meaning to. It's really depressing."

"...Oh." Hikaru's eyes softened and his heart suddenly felt heavy with pity. He had been expecting a totally different answer from a girl like Midori. She must have felt awful when that had happened.

"And you know what's even worse?" Midori said with a fierce look in her eyes. "People always underestimate me! They think I'm just a simple, flirtatious, conceited little girl who gets what she wants whenever she wants just because she can control people by flaunting her looks. I...I have to admit that some of it is true, but it doesn't mean that I'm weak and care about nothing but myself."

"Wow...I never knew that..." Hikaru mumbled truthfully. He could now tell that Midori wasn't _always_ like the way she was now. After having so many people like Midori and fight over her in the past, it explained why Midori acted so annoyingly super-girly nowadays. Even Hikaru himself hadn't believed in Midori for a while there. He thought that she was kind of a weakling, too, but first impressions were almost always wrong.

What Midori just said had an even deeper meaning that only people like Hikaru could understand. People were always too quick to judge Midori. They took one look at her, put her down as the 'daft, conceited weakling' in their mind's address book, and left it at that. Just because she was pretty and always had guys staring her down. Nobody took the time to get to know who she really was because they didn't want to. Those people would never know that there was a bold girl with determination and talent inside of that so-called 'daft, conceited weakling'.

It used to be the same with Hikaru. Hikaru used to often be shunned as an evil abomination that came from underground, just because he had a moon charm stuck to his forehead. They thought he was a ruthless freak who wanted to kill everything and everybody. Sure, part of that used to be true, but he was often socially underestimated, so nobody bothered to speak with him or even try to make friends. All of this wasn't Hikaru's fault, anyway. He was born cursed. It was his mother's fault.

"And..." Midori whispered, looking down with something similar to guilty determination in her eyes. "That's exactly why I came here, Hikaru."

"Huh?" Hikaru asked, confused.

"I knew that you guys were going on that mission all along!" Midori blurted loudly. "And I wanted me and my squad to come with your team!"

"Y-You do? But...but you guys are..." Hikaru stammered, shocked.

"I know, I know!" Midori quietly hissed so nobody except she and Hikaru could hear. "I know we're fired and out of work for now, but I...I want to prove myself! I want to prove myself worthy of being a ninja to all of you, so I wont be labeled the rest of my life as a pathetic moronic girl. Anyway, I've got nothing else better to do, since all of the other stupid tyrants around here underestimate and wont hire me!"

"M-Midori!" Hikaru cried. "Just because you don't have a job right now doesn't mean that you can just-"

"Please. I haven't been on a mission in over a year." Midori interrupted softly in a trembling voice, looking up at Hikaru with a whole new expression. They weren't even her usual fake puppy eyes. Midori was truly begging him to go. Right now, she wanted nothing else in the world but this mission. She would do anything to go with them. "We just want a second chance with our old boss. It would be an _honor_ to work with you guys. Really."

"I-...fine. I'll see what I can do, okay?" Hikaru sighed, finally giving in. With a story like that, there was no way he could say no. "I-I'll go talk to Omari."

_**...5 Minutes Later...**_

"Oh, c'mon, Omari!" Hikaru pressed once more. "Have a heart! They need another chance with our boss. It's only fair, right? It's not that they're asking a huge favor, right? I mean, we'll be unstoppable with Ryo, Tomozaku, Squad 211, and us! Don't ya think?"

"Hikaru, it's not whether I like Midori and the rest of Squad 211 or not! I...I'm just afraid we'll get in trouble or worse- fired." Omari said nervously.

"Omari, we're rogue ninja!" Hikaru almost laughed. "We LIVE to get in trouble! Besides, we're the top rogue ninja squad around here, and I'm not saying that just to brag, but because Tarina raised a good team. We're reliable, and our boss _knows_ that! No matter what we do, _nobody's _gonna fire a team made by Tarina." Hikaru crossed his arms. What he was saying was true. They were untouchable when it came to employment. Absolutely irreplaceable. Even their boss was afraid of them.

Omari finally sighed dramatically, knowing that Hikaru had won over her. What he was saying was true. If they got cut off from the employment line, then Hikaru could simply cut off their boss' head, and they'd be back in employment by the frightened new heir. That was how things worked with rogue ninja. Most of the time, in the Land of Water, being a rogue ninja-hiring tyrant like Gato was more of a terrifying, threatening job than a rewarding one.

"I...I guess...we could add Squad 211 to our mission party." Omari shrugged, looking down meekly. She felt a little funny about all of this. "But I...just don't want anybody to get hurt..."

"They wont!" Hikaru exclaimed, sensing Midori tensely watching from nearby. "Everybody here is strong. We'll just look out for each other, that's all. We'll be fine, no matter what. I mean, if anybody's gonna get a few minor scratches, it might be Tomozaku, Ryo, or the younger guys on Squad 211. Midori and Masakaru will be perfectly fine! They were on Squad 101, remember? They were famous for their work, too."

Omari was still looking at the floor thoughtfully, hand on her chin. She finally looked up, sighed, and nodded slightly. "I...alright. They can come with us."

"Thanks, Omari!" Hikaru smiled, hugging her. Omari was so nice, generously allowing a younger squad come along on their mission. She was so understanding and perfect to Hikaru, he couldn't help clinging to her.

Omari didn't know why Hikaru was so happy that Squad 211 got to come along. She blushed and cleared her throat loudly, trying to tell Hikaru to get off of her. She, along with many other (but not all) rogue ninja, really didn't like hugs much. Especially ones like this.

Hikaru pretended not to get the message (he was still hugging her), causing Omari to roll her eyes. But she couldn't help smiling ruefully.

Zamu and Slicer were watching from a distance, exchanging weird looks. They didn't know how to react to this at all. They would definitely feel weird pulling Hikaru away from Omari, because it was just a hug. It wasn't exactly abuse. Zamu shot Slicer a look telling him that they should just let it go. Just this once, they would let Hikaru get away from being too close to Omari. Besides, Omari didn't look desperate to get away this time (to their surprise).

Just then, the door to the hideout swung open. Two young voices called out to the group gathered in the kitchen. "Hello? Anybody there?"

Omari jumped as she spotted Ryo and Tomozaku uncertainly entering the hideout's kitchen with their bags, eyeing Omari and Hikaru strangely.

"Is this a bad time?" Tomozaku chuckled cockily, looking at the affectionate way Hikaru was hugging her. Ryo was just crossing his arms, eyes closed, shaking his head in disapproval. These two boys obviously thought that the concept of teenage romance was absolutely appalling and hilarious.

Omari's eyes grew wide and she blushed. "N-No! We- he...we were just hugging...in a friendly manner. Nothing special...or romantic." She mumbled quickly as Hikaru blushed and finally let her go.

"Sure you were," Tomozaku tossed off plainly with a smirk on his face, causing Omari to glare at him.

Knowing of Omari's desperate embarrassment, Hikaru quickly decided to change the subject. "Um...so how about that mission? Are you sure you guys are up for it?"

"Well, duh!" Tomozaku exclaimed excitedly, flailing his arms all over the place in an obnoxious manner. "We've been waiting for this for weeks! Oh man, I can't wait! It'll be so awesome! The Land of Exiles!"

"Okay, that does it." Hikaru grumbled. "What is it with this 'Land of Exiles' stuff?! First Cyclone was mentioning it, and now you! Where did you even hear that?"

"It's nothing," Omari said quickly, not looking up from her sewing. "It's just a myth. There is no Land of Exiles."

"Yuh-huh!" Zinan stepped forward, defending Tomozaku. "It is too true!"

"Hey, hey!" Hikaru put his hands up, not wanting to start a big conflict over what was true about Avalanche Temple. "I'm not saying it's not true. I'm just curious. What's the story?"

Omari sighed and put her needle down as she went on to explain. "It's believed that the Avalanche Temple, or as some people call the 'Land of Exiles' (located in the Hidden Rock Village), is where disgraceful creatures or failures without a purpose are captured and sent there as exiles from their home village. Mainly monstrous rogue ninja and beaten demons from other worlds. They say that the exiles are converted into sad slaves to the temple, guarding the Rainbow Boulder that lies within. Really stupid if you ask me."

Hikaru shrugged. "Well, at least it makes a good story."

"Don't belittle it by saying it's just a story!" Ryo jumped into the conversation. "It's true! You'll see! The former terrorists of the shinobi world will be at the Avalanche Temple...WAITING FOR _US_!" Ryo cried with emphasis, as if he was telling a corny Halloween tale.

Omari inaudibly snorted, and Hikaru raised an eyebrow. All three of them were acting pretty dorky right about now, but neither of them decided to argue against it any further.

Omari cried out as Midori suddenly came up to Omari and hugged her, squealing in gratitude. "Ooh, thank you so much for letting us come! Thank you!!"

"Uuuh...no problem..." Omari gave her a shaky smile and patted her on the back.

Midori finally let go of Omari and gathered her teammates in a corner of the room, explaining that Omari had permitted them to go along on the mission. Hikaru watched them with interest, instantly assuming that Midori was the leader of their squad due to Kanaye and Zinan's eager submissiveness towards Midori and Masakaru's quiet, 'don't-bother-me-while-I'm thinking' personality.

While Hikaru was staring, Cyclone breathlessly/excitedly ran back into the room and literally tried to claw his way up Hikaru's body to get on his shoulder.

"Heeey!" Hikaru cried out in pain, wincing as Cyclone's growing claws scraped against his thighs. "Watch it, g-oww! Stop climbing on me like that! What is your problem?!"

"Sorry." Cyclone grinned excitedly as he hopped up on Hikaru's left shoulder. "But I just couldn't help doing that. This is gonna be so much fun!" He laughed, suddenly thrilled by the thought that they were going to one of the most haunting, talked about places in the world.

"Yeeeah." Hikaru shot him a secret strange look. "Walking through the hot desert to go to some crumbly temple and pick up a painted rock. Whoop-dee-doo. Yup. Sounds like alooootta fun."

"We're not gonna be the only people in there, you know." Cyclone said matter-of-factly. "And I heard that they refurnished it."

"They put couches in the Avalanche Temple?"

"No!" Cyclone grumbled, although Hikaru had just said that to annoy his subordinate. "They refurnished the walls, and they put new trap doors, alarms, and cages in there and stuff. Y'know. Refurnished. Guards are in there now, watching what goes on."

"Cages? Trap doors? Alarms and cameras?" Hikaru laughed. "I think that's going a bit too far, if you ask me."

"No, I'm serious!" Cyclone cried. "They have hidden rooms and an excellent security system. They've got cameras and trackers and guards everywhere. Believe me! I know! We've gotta be extra-careful in there! The Hidden Rock's secret services are really high-tech!"

Hikaru snorted. "Oh, really? When was the last time you visited the Avalanche Temple, Cyclone?"

Cyclone ignored Hikaru's sarcastic question and crossed his arms. "Well, if you don't wanna believe me, then fine. But when a net comes crashing down on you when you end up stupidly touching some screwy-looking lever, don't say I didn't warn you."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, then turned slightly to face Midori and Masakaru, who were now standing together after the little group meeting that Midori had called minutes ago. "Hey, Midori. You buyin' this?"

"Buying what?"

"The story of the Avalanche Temp- oh, I'm sorry. The _Land of Exiles._" Hikaru wasn't sure about the story before, but now he found it absolutely hilarious. Cyclone, Ryo, Tomozaku, and Zinan all seemed so sure of themselves, when none of them had been to the stupid temple their selves. That proved that the Land of Exiles was just a myth. This mission would be nothing. Just a few tired old guards around there at best. No demons or cameras or tracking systems or ghosts or slaves. ...Right?

Midori blinked twice, still a little confused, but eventually remembered what the conversation was about from before. "Oh, that? Mmm...maybe. I'm not sure. I...I guess I believe part of it, but not the demons part. What do you think, Masakaru?"

Masakaru shrugged. "To be honest with you, I really don't know. I mean, it's just a myth. Myths are mythical. It's probably just some old rumor started by a total psychopath 100 years ago. But then again, I'm not sure."

Midori shrugged, too. "Eh...you're probably right, Masakaru. A lot of people start rumors. I mean, who knows? It could be true, and it couldn't. We'll just have to wait and see, wont we?"

"Sure." Masakaru said blandly.

Midori giggled, making both Cyclone and Hikaru inaudibly shudder. Midori turned to Masakaru, who was staring off into space. "I'll be right back, okay?" She said, making a move towards the bathroom.

"Mm-hmm."

Midori giggled again, reaching over and painfully yet affectionately pinching Masakaru's cheek before skipping off to the restroom. Masakaru snorted and rubbed his throbbing cheek when she was gone, smiling ruefully to himself.

Hikaru gave him a weird look. "Doesn't she creep you out?!" He said frantically in a hushed whisper.

Masakaru shook his head slightly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Nah. She's only like that on occasions. You get used to it."

Hikaru sighed. "If only Omari liked me the way Midori likes you..."

Masakaru lightly chuckled. "Trust me, you wouldn't want that."

"You'd be surprised."

Masakaru shrugged. "Maybe. Anyway, Midori only seems kinda creepy because she gets easily excited. Over the past year, she's gotten a lot less weird. She's grown much stronger than before."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Strong enough to retrieve the Rainbow Boulder?"

Masakaru shrugged.

_**...About 2 Hours Later...**_

Almost everybody was completely ready.

Omari was in the bathroom, trying to drag Midori away from pampering herself in the mirror before their mission, telling her that the enemies in Avalanche temple could care less about how her hair looked. Zinan, Kanaye, Tomozaku, and Ryo were all excitedly talking together in the living room about their mission. Since all four of the boys were about ten years old, they automatically considered themselves all friends.

Slicer and Zamu were hanging out in Zamu's room, and Cyclone was brushing his fur and putting on his battle outfit. Masakaru was sitting around patiently in the kitchen along with Hikaru, with his backpack ready. Hikaru had somehow taken a liking to Masakaru. Hikaru usually wasn't one to mingle with younger kids; he liked to communicate within his age group. But, something about Masakaru made Hikaru want to stick with him as a friend, even though Masakaru was more of an introverted person.

Maybe it was the kid's confidence in himself. He was stern, straightforward, and definitely intelligent. He knew who he was. He wasn't afraid to take charge. He saw everyone else as equals and treated nobody special. He even treated Midori, his own girlfriend, like everybody else whenever it came to being around others and special privileges.

Hikaru knew that it would take quite a while to reach the temple. That was why they were going to leave in about 15 more minutes. A sudden gurgling feeling came into his stomach, indicating that he was desperately nervous. The countdown for the big mission.

Something about what Cyclone and the little kids had told Hikaru made him feel weird. And the way Omari had rejected the ideas so firmly. It made him feel weird. It made him feel vulnerable. Disgraceful demons and former terrorists of the shinobi world made into slaves that guarded the Land of Exiles? Now _that_ was a story. After thinking it over, it wasn't as funny as it sounded before.

Hikaru didn't even know what that meant. Terrorists of the shinobi world. Jeez. It sounded a lot like rogue ninjas, but he knew that what Ryo and the others had mentioned was much more serious. But just _how_ more serious?

And disgraceful demons? What was that supposed to mean? Did it mean that demons that had been outdone or beaten by others had become disgraces and were exiled to the Avalanche Temple to become slaves? Hikaru knew that he was over thinking this a bit, but still. It made him so curious...

Hikaru was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a girly voice squeal from the bathroom. "Waaaiiit! Now you messed it up by pulling on my arm! Now I have to fix it aaaaaall over again. Thanks a lot, Omari!"

Omari sighed loudly. Hikaru was all ears now. This was interesting. "Just come on, Midori! We gotta go! Here, let me fix it for you."

"Nooo, Omari! That's not how my hair goes! It's delicate!"

"Fine, then. ...Here, how about this?"

"No! Now it looks like old lady hair!"

"Old lady hair?! ...Wait, that's how I wear my hair!"

"Well, I'm just being honest!"

At that point, Masakaru and Hikaru had started to giggle. Even Cyclone started cracking up from the other room at the two girls bickering in the bathroom.

"Omari, you have no taste in hairstyles at all. You've ruined my hair. Now fix it!"

_"Well, if I have no taste, then how can I help you fix it?" _Omari said in a fake snooty tone, trying to mock what Midori sounded like right about now.

"JUST FIX IT!" Came Midori's loud demand.

"Midori! We've got to go! There's no time for this! Uurrrgh…here! Just put it like this! There, how's that?"

"Omari!! _Now_ look what you've done!"

"What?"

"You've-...hey, that looks kind of cute, after all..."

"Oh, just c'mon!" Omari finally managed to drag Midori out from the bathroom by the hand.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming!" Midori yelled desperately, wrenching away from Omari. "Jeez! I know how to take care of myself! I don't need you holding my hand like that!!"

"Well, apparently, you can't take care of yourself and work efficiently at the same time!" Omari shot back. "You can't even decide on your hairdo without pondering and complaining for six hours! You act so childish!"

As soon as Midori was about to fire back a nasty, curse word-riddled reply (to 'prove' to Omari she wasn't childish), Masakaru approached her and covered her mouth. "C'mon, Midori. Get over it. You _do_ take too long in the bathroom. Let's just go." He laughed as he uncovered her mouth.

Midori sighed and closed her eyes in frustration. "Okay, Masakaru…" She replied as she grabbed her pack and walked to the door where Omari was already waiting.

Omari raised her eyebrows with interest. Midori was the leader of she and Masakaru's squad, but Masakaru always seemed to be the one to keep Midori in line and free of trouble or distractions. Midori also seemed pretty tolerant to Masakaru's constant suggestions.

Omari looked down at Midori. "You ready for this?"

Midori looked up at Omari and smiled slightly. "I think so…" She then looked worried all of a sudden. "B-But…what if I do bad and can't lead my squad the right way? I-I haven't been on a mission in so long. I really don't know what it feels like to be an active leader on a mission!"

Omari sighed and patted the younger girl's back. "You'll do fine, Midori. Don't worry. I'll help you. All of us are here to help each other."

Midori looked touched by this and smiled.

"Everything will be okay, Midori…" Omari said as her other teammates approached the door and she started to open it. "Are you sure you want to do this? This is the last time I'm asking you. Are you ready?"

Midori suddenly looked pumped and ready for the mission. She was no weakling. She was determined and strong only because she knew she could be. "I'm ready. Let's go!"

…_**Turn To The Next Chapter!!…**_

So, how'd you like this one? Confusing for new readers, yes, but if you actually had the tolerance to read all 30-something chapters from the First Impression, then it would have made MUCH more sense. There are no new characters yet.

_**Also, if you are reading this chapter one or two days after it came out, then I advise you to keep checking back! The second chapter of this is already made. Only a few spell checks will be needed and the second one will be good to go!!**_

_**Bye!! See you next chapter! And don't forget to leave a review!! ;)**_


	2. The Ultimate Mission: 2: The Arrival

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 2: The Arrival...**_

The group was about three hours on the trail to Avalanche Temple. Ryo, Tomozaku, Zinan, and Kanaye were up front, still as excited and pumped as ever. Slicer and Zamu were quickly following about ten feet behind, keeping an eye on the kids but growing tired of the unbearably hot climate. They _were _on the outskirts of a desert, after all. They had chosen to walk because they knew that the obstacles that lay ahead would require much energy.

Hikaru, Masakaru, and Cyclone were walking behind Slicer and Zamu, just having a regular conversation like this whole mission was nothing. To prove that he was physically capable of helping out on this mission, Cyclone had told Hikaru to let him walk by himself to get from place to place. Cyclone loved Hikaru more than anything, and he wanted to impress his master. Cyclone missed riding on Hikaru's shoulder for the time being, but didn't dare speak about it since he had already made his temporary promise to do everything himself.

Omari and Midori were walking behind a bit. Omari would have been up front, but had to stay with Midori, constantly urging her to walk faster. Midori was still holding back, panting, claiming that she was tired and that the heat was making her hair frizzy. Midori stopped almost every three minutes, trying to fix her precious hairdo. The very aggravated Omari had to eventually get behind Midori and roughly shove her ahead every time she stopped with another complaint about being too hot and thirsty.

"But Omar-rriiii!" Midori whined loudly, trudging forward with her heavy backpack slung across her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "It's too HOOOOT! I'm tired! I need to take a break!!"

Omari let out a deep, frustrated growl in her throat and shoved Midori ahead, making the girl cry out and stumble forward. It was obvious that Omari was hot and tired as well. "C'mon, Midori!! You knew that we were gonna have to walk sooner or later! You're the one who wanted to go on this mission with us, remember?"

"Yeah, I know, but I still need a break! You gotta have sympathy for delicate little girls like me!..." Midori flashed Omari her big puppy eyes.

"Not workin', kid! Now move!!" Omari screamed. She suddenly raised her foot and Midori then received a painful crash to her behind. Omari was usually never this harsh, but at this rate, they wouldn't make it to the temple by sundown. And if that happened, then their mission was already screwed up.

"Woooooaaah!" Midori screamed out in fright and surprise at the kick and instantly toppled to the dirty ground, her face full of sand. She lay there for a second, with Omari just watching her with her arms crossed. "Ahh mpph mpph dpphh phff pfff." Midori said, her tired and aggravated response muffled by the sand surrounding her face-down body.

"Get up." Came Omari's neutral command.

Midori got up off of her face and wiped the sand off of her face, grimacing at the hard, itchy feeling of the grains scratching against her legs. She got up, took off her beanie, and adjusted her hair. She the put the pink cap back on and turned to face Omari. She looked upset.

Omari sighed and put her arms down. "Look, I'm sorry, Midori. I'm just a little tense. I shouldn't have kicked you like that. Are you hurt?"

"Wha-...?! I don't care about that!! I only care about what you did to my pants!" Midori said.

"Huh?!" Omari looked confused.

Midori turned around for Omari for her to check. "Did you leave a footprint on my pants?"

Omari sighed and closed her eyes without even checking. She already knew she didn't leave a mark, anyway. She had cleaned her shoes two days ago, and besides, it wasn't like they were just walking around in mud. "No, Midori. I did not leave a footprint on your pants. Don't worry. You're good."

Midori smiled cheerfully. "Well, that's all that matters. I forgive you for kicking me, so you're good, too! Hee hee hee!!" She giggled as she skipped off to catch up with Masakaru and Hikaru before Omari could get the chance to kick her again.

Omari put a hand to her forehead, sighing. "Calm down, Omari. The heat's getting to you. This will eventually be over. You'll get through this day. Just keep your cool." She assured herself quietly.

"Hey, Omari!! You comin'?!" Hikaru called to her from ahead, turning around after checking his compass. "C'mon, we don't have much longer. There's still over fifteen miles to go. The wind's starting to pick up, too. We should stay in one group."

Omari groaned. This was going to be a long day.

_**...Another Long, Boring, Three Hours Later...**_

"H-Hey! I think I see it!" Kanaye cried excitedly, pointing up ahead. "The Avalanche Temple! We're getting closer!"

"Not by much." Zamu sighed. "It may seem close, but we still have a long walk. Or, for all we know, it could just be a mirage, which is an image that we see in our heads but is not really there. We have to keep hydrated at all times just to be safe. Remember, never let the obstacles of nature itself deceive you, otherwise-"

"What is this, the nature channel?!" Hikaru exploded. "We all know what a mirage is, Smarty-goon! Can we just go now?! We've been walking forever! I came on this mission to snatch up a stone and beat up some good-doers! Why are we just standing here in the middle of the desert like this?!"

"Just be patient, Hikaru. I'm trying to see where we are." Zamu grumbled while looking at his own compass and map that their boss had sent to take with them. He stood in the middle of the gathered group (who had stopped walking for a moment) and looked over the map. "We don't even know if this thing's accurate."

"B-But I see it! I see the temple!" Kanaye insisted, jumping up and down.

"Like Zamu said before, Kanaye, it could just be a mirage." Slicer said, raising an eyebrow uneasily. "It isn't safe out in the desert. Your own mind can be playing tricks on you right now."

"Yeah..." Zinan said, squinting off into the distance and sheilding his eyes. "I think I'm seeing a mirage right now, too. Look, the Avalanche Temple seems to be simutaneously approaching us instead of _us _approaching _it._"

"You see?" Zamu said, looking off into where Zinan was looking. "You're never totally safe when you-...hey, wait...I see the same thing! It _is_ coming closer! Really!"

"_Or, for all we know, it could just be a mirage, which is an image that we see in our heads but is not really there._" Hikaru mocked in a fake nasal voice, staring up at the sky with his arms crossed.

Zamu would have snapped at Hikaru for making fun of him like that, but was too busy staring at the approaching temple. Everybody else (except for Hikaru) was staring at it, too. Obviously, they were seeing the same thing.

A weird feeling went through Hikaru's spine as he realized that nobody had responded negatively to his insult towards Zamu. He didn't like it when he failed to attract attention. It made him feel alone. He whipped around to his teammates, glaring at them. "Heeey! What's the matter with you goons? Didn't you hear me-" He suddenly caught sight of the Avalanche Temple, which was now huge due to it's odd sudden approach.

As the Avalanche Temple quickly (and somehow) approached them, the wind that was picking up was rushing past them, but none of them could feel it. They could not breathe or feel the wind. They could not hear the wind, only hearing themselves breathe heavily and speak.

"Dude..." Slicer whispered. "How...how is that happening? It's like the time and place were in is...fast forwarding or something. Like it's doing the work for us..."

"Watch yourself." Omari said, digging in her pocket for a weapon, still staring. "It could be genjutsu. Somebody could be on to us."

"That's soooo weird..." Midori moaned, not even hearing what Omari was mumbling.

"Uughh..." Hikaru couldn't stand fast-moving effects like this. Unlike the others, he couldn't hear anything at all. Not even his own fast-moving heartbeat. It made his stomach turn. Or, or maybe it was something else...a strange vibe ran through his body and he somehow felt connected to the Avalanche Temple, like...

He was bound to it. It was where he needed to go. He suddenly heard a weird voice in his head, a familiar voice that sounded so far away at the same time...

_"Brother..."_

Hikaru wanted to yelp in surprise, whip around to look at his teammates, and ask if anybody else had heard it. But...he couldn't bring himself to it. Just one look at the Temple hypnotized him into an endless zone of thinking and dreams. He was so fascinated with the temple's approaching image, so lost into it...so lost...

_"Brother...I've been waiting so long to see you in person again...finally..."_

Another shiver went through his body. A warm, slithering feeling went down his forehead, and he saw a long stream of blood spill from it very slowly from his head, through his bandanna. It was his moon-shaped charm. Shaking. Bleeding. He felt energized. It made him feel like he wanted to...

_"KILL!" _Another voice, different this time. Familiar. It was the Midnight Demon's horrid voice, ringing through Hikaru's young mind. This was impossible. The Midnight Demon was dead. Hikaru shuddered, but could not feel it. As soon as the first drop of blood splashed to the sandy ground, he couldn't even feel anymore. His mind was racing, back and forth between the familiar yet sad-sounding voice and the Midnight Demon's cranky old voice...

_"Brother...sweet brother Hikaru...forgive me...for what I have done...don't become the monster you were because of my image. I'm sorry..."_

_"You've gotten stronger over the years, little punk. I've decided that I want you back, so you better watch out and live good while you can. You know who you are, Hikaru...and you know you want to kill and conquer. You're a monster, Hikaru." _The Midnight Demon cackled evilly.

_I am not a monster! _Hikaru cried defensively in his head, hoping the Midnight Demon's voice from nowhere would hear him. There was no direct reply. All of a sudden, both the Midnight Demon and the sad voice from before spoke three small sentences that made his blood run cold (he could feel it all of a sudden) and gave him the ability to scream...

_"The Land Of Exiles. I'll be waiting for you, Hikaru. I'll be waiting."_

Hikaru snapped out of the weird, lost thinking zone and let out a frightened, shrill wail. "Waaaaaaahh!" He fell to the floor, shaking and twitching madly. His jittery movements made him look like he was being electocuted, as if the plug that was keeping him sane had a bucket of water thrown onto it.

Everybody else, who had definatley not seen or went through what Hikaru had went through, gasped. "Hikaru!!"

"Aww, he's bleeding!!" Omari cried, quickly kneeling down into the sand and taking out a small cloth and a container of water used for medical emergencies only.

Hikaru had torn off his bandanna already and started crying. He didn't even know why. "It hurts...it hurts...help...the Midnight Demon...Land of Exiles...he..."

What _was _that?

"Oh, no..." Cyclone whispered to himself, his eyes widening. The Midnight Demon? The one who he and the rest of his species had served for so long through a small boy named Hikaru? The one who had created him and the other shadow slaves in this first place? He was dead, right? There was no way Hikaru could have seen or heard...

Omari wasn't paying attention to Hikaru's endless ramblings. She was only trying to get him to calm down, not even bothering to wonder why in the world Hikaru had fallen and went crazy in the first place. She, along with Midori and Zamu, was trying to talk him down gently, assuring him that everything was going to be okay, while the smaller boys had backed away from the scene, a little taken aback by Hikaru's performance. Masakaru and Slicer just stood and exchanged worried looks.

Hikaru finally started to calm down after Omari had started cleaning his charm of the blood. He was now laying on his back, breathing heavily, as if he had seen the most frightening image in the world. Midori, who wanted to be helpful, picked up Hikaru's bandanna and started to clean it off for him. She gasped slightly when she saw that the blood left on the bandanna suddenly turned to a gooey black substance, shrieveled up, and disappeared from sight. The bandanna was perfectly clean. Midori gulped and cautiously put it on the ground next to him.

"There, there..." Omari mumbled to the now softly whimpering Hikaru. She gently leaned down kissed his now clean forehead, feeling complete sympathy for her teammate. "Everything will be okay."

"Wha...what happened?" Midori asked Hikaru, who took a deep breath and shakily started to sit up without another word. "W-Why were you-"

"I...It's nothing, you guys." Hikaru said quietly, shaking his head and smiling weakly. "Seriously nothing. I-I just got a little excited and nervous, that's all. It happens, you know?"

"Oh." Midori pretended to look relieved.

Omari now knew there was some special relationship between Hikaru and who or what was in the Avalanche Temple. This was what she had been so nervous about all along. She had a bad vibe towards the mission plan from the start. She knew it was the Land of Exiles. She knew it was all true, but...she just didn't want to believe it.

Omari sighed and hugged Hikaru. "Everything will be okay. Whatever you saw or heard doesn't matter, because I'll protect you from it. Don't be nervous. I'm here to protect all of you. Especially you, Hikaru. You know that."

"I...I know. Thank you, Omari..." Hikaru uttered out, sniffling. "I...I think I'm ready to go now."

"Really? You sure?" Omari broke the hug and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Hikaru nodded, standing up and wrapping his bandanna back around his head. He slowly stood with Omari's help and flashed her a grateful smile. He wiped the last of his tears away and somehow seemed to be normal again.

"Good. 'Cause we're here." Slicer laughed uneasily, pointing ten feet ahead to the enterance to the massive, dreary-looking, medieval-castle-like environment that lay ahead of them.

"Geez. There must be a buncha dungeons and traps in that place to keep the Rainbow Boulder protected. Looks kinda spooky." Kanaye said.

"Yeah. Seems old fashioned." Zamu observed with a hand on his chin.

Cyclone laughed. "Heh. Don't bet on that."

Slicer just stared at it. "So...uh...can we just, you know...go in?"

Ryo clicked a strange red side key on his thick gray glasses that nobody had ever noticed before. He squinted at the Avalanche Temple, which had a broad, open, archlike doorway that lead to a hole of darkness. "Hmm. I detect only one enterance and no exit, and only one floor plus a basement. I don't think anybody's guarding the door or the inside of it, but I can't determine other people inside. That's all I can get from here."

"Wait...how did you even get ANY of that?!" Slicer shot Ryo a weird look.

"Oh, that?" Ryo smiled proudly as he clicked the button again to deactivate the special glasses mode. "It's a type of vision that I was capable of creating through my glasses. It's almost like x-ray vision. I can see the floor plans of every building through the walls. Even human skin. When I turn on this button, all of you appear to be skeletons. I invented it myself."

Everyone stared at him in awe. When things got technical, Ryo was just too quick for them.

"So...Ryo...can you see where the Rainbow Boulder is?" Hikaru asked.

Ryo clicked on the button again and squinted just to check for any changes in what he had seen before. "Hmm...nah. I can't see much because the bulding's so old and made out of such an unfamiliar material. This is unusual. Usually, I would be able to see most of the people and the objects inside of the building, but it's just too big. And...weird."

"Oh." Hikaru sighed and hung his head. "I guess we'll just have to look for it all by ourselves, since there's no map to the inside of this thing. This will take a while."

"Yeah..." Masakaru said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring at the temple. "Anyway, I don't think that we'll have to sneak in. We just go in, I think. I mean, I heard there were guards around here, but...they must be off duty or something."

"Nuh-uh!" Cyclone exclaimed. "They don't need any guards on the outside because there are hidden cameras on the enterence! And there are beasts and demons and vicious enslaved rogue ninja inside!! I know it!"

"Cyclone...please don't start this again..." Hikaru snorted, rolling his eyes.

"No!! Really! I'm serious, Your Goonliness!! I know it!" Cyclone cried.

"Whatever."

Before Cyclone could make an enfuriated reply, Midori interrupted with something that came from her own point of view. "After we get in, maybe we should just split up into three or four groups so we can find the Rainbow Boulder faster."

Everyone just looked at her as if she were the stupidest person alive.

"What?" Midori asked, confused. "I don't see anything wrong with that."

Hikaru sighed disgustedly and closed his eyes, putting his hand to his forehead in a tired, frustrated manner. "Yeeeeah...listen, _Mimi_...I don't think that's gonna work."

"What! Why not?!" Midori yelped, offended that Hikaru and the others had instantly discarded her idea without even taking it into consideration.

"Well, for one, we have no idea what this place even looks like on the inside, and we don't even know where the Rainbow Boulder could be near. For two, this place is HUGE. We'll never get our way around it if we break up in groups. It's not like we're in Smogstone Cave or something. And, for three, we don't even have a way to communicate!! How would we meet?! How could we contact each other if something went wrong?! We don't even know where or what anything is in there! You have to plan these things out, Midori!" Hikaru said, as aggravated as ever. 

"...Oh." Midori looked down, ashamed.

"Well, maybe we can modify it a bit. Splitting up might not be _that_ bad of an idea." Omari shrugged, feeling the need to come to poor Midori's aid. She was only trying to help out and fit in, after all. "I mean, once we get in and check the place out, we'll find a place to meet and take it one area at a time."

"What do you mean?" Slicer looked confused.

"We'll just start out on the first floor and form a few separate search parties." Omari suggested. "We can make a mark close to the enterance and meet there at a certain time. Then we can proceed to the basement if we don't find anything there. I mean, most of us have watches on, right?"

Everybody except for Slicer, Tomozaku, and Kanaye nodded.

"Good." Omari said. "And the people without watches will just have to go with somebody with a watch. I mean, the temple might not be as huge as we think it is, right? It'll be easier if we split up in groups. Midori's idea was just a little...unfinished, that's all."

"Yeah." Midori smiled, shooting Hikaru a mean, smug look. Hikaru simply returned the glare and looked away.

"So...what do you all think of the plan? We'll decide teams, go in, mark the spot in which we meet at, make a time to meet, and then we'll go from there. How does that sound?" Omari asked.

"Sounds good." Everybody except for Hikaru replied with a nod.

Omari turned to specifically look at her teammate. Her eyebrows wrinkled in worry. "Hikaru?"

"Huuuh?" Hikaru looked over at Omari, finally snapping to attention.

"Are you ready?"

"Oh! Uh...yeah!" Hikaru flashed Omari a shaky smile.

"Alright, then." Omari nodded, clapping her hands together and stepping back to face the entire group. "So...how are we going to pick teams and captains? There are eleven of us. Me, Ryo, Kanaye, Zinan, Tomozaku, Slicer, Zamu, Cyclone, Hikaru, Midori, and Masakaru. We could make groups of four, and one of our teams would just have three members. And we should certainly pick teams of people whom we get along and work well with. We should also divide it equally between the ages, like...there shouldn't be all adults in one group and all little kids in another."

"Yeah, but...which three of us are going to be the leaders?" Masakaru asked. "'Cause I certainly don't want to be one."

"Well, how about each of the squad leaders can be a captain of a group?" Omari suggested. "If it was like that, then the leaders would be me, Midori, and Ryo."

"Sure, I'll be one of the leaders!" Midori cooed cheerfully, finally feeling a sense of importance on the mission.

Ryo snorted. "Pass. I can't lead a group through this place. I'm too scared and klutzy. This place is just too creepy for me. Sorry."

Omari shot him a weird look. Usually, ten-year-olds like Ryo would be jumping up and down, screaming and waving his little arms to be leader. But, this kid seemed to know his own limitations. Omari admired him for that, but they really needed a smart, logical leader like him to take his place.

"Well...okay, then." Omari said, giving Ryo a small nod. "Well, then...Zamu, what do you think about being a leader?" She asked. Zamu was just as good as Ryo. He had common sense and knew how and when to fight.

"Uh...I'd really rather not..." Zamu shook his head with a worried, sorry look on his face. 

"Slicer?" Omari asked worriedly, suddenly feeling deprived of experienced people who were willing to work. If they just split up into the groups as their own squads, it wouldn't be fair. All of the older ninja were in the Kingpin Kunais squad, and there were only two kids in Squad 99.

Slicer sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, Omari. I'm just not the leader type."

"C'mon, you guys! We need just one more leader! Someone who is experienced and is willing to take care of others no matter what the cost." Omari exclaimed to the group. A sudden frustrated look crossed her face. "If one of you guys don't volunteer soon, then I'll decide for you. I'm sorry, but there's just nothing else we can do."

Nobody responded. Everybody just exchanged worried and upset glances. Most of the group did not want to be one of the leaders or the one who would be forced to become a leader.

Hikaru wanted to be one of the leaders more than anything, but didn't speak up because he didn't want to seem to eager. He also didn't want Omari to randomly choose somebody who was scared and not willing to be a leader. It didn't seem fair (although it was one of the only remaining options). And yet...if he volunteered, maybe Omari would admire him for being brave enough to guide a group of ninja through the Avalanche Temple...

"Alright, that does it." Omari glared at the group. "Since nobody's talking, I'll make one of you into a leader. Okay, whether they like it or not, the third leader is gonna be-"

"I-I'll do it!" Hikaru eagerly raised his hand all of a sudden without giving it a second thought. When he saw everybody's eyes on him, he blushed and put his hand down, giving Omari a shy look. "Uh...if that's okay with you, Omari..."

"Of course it is!" Omari looked impressed. "We needed somebody with courage and strength. Thank you, Hikaru."

Hikaru smiled back, but felt queasy all the while. He liked making Omari proud of him, but the little ordeal with the voices inside of his head made him nervous. The feeling that made him long for a specific, unknown something inside of the temple was so weird! Ever since he had started bleeding and crying, he felt as if there was a missing part of him. It was either the Midnight Demon, or...

"Okay. All of the leaders can come up here with me and we'll decide who is on who's team." Omari declared.

Both Midori and Hikaru stepped forward, now standing next to Omari.

"Ooh! Ooh! Hikaru! I wanna be on Hikaru's team!" Cyclone squealed, rushing forward and standing near Hikaru.

Omari hesitated for a second, but there was really no problem with this pairing. Hikaru and Cyclone wouldn't dare to goof off in a place like this, and they seemed to work well together, so...why not? "Okay, Cyclone can be on Hikaru's team." She looked over at Hikaru for his approval. He merely nodded.

"Can Masakaru be on my team, Omari?! Pleeeaaase?!" Midori asked desperatley as Masakaru blushed in embarassment from afar.

Omari wasn't so sure about this. She didn't want Midori to be distracted by her infatuation towards Masakaru. They couldn't get all lovey-dovey while they were on an ultra-dangerous mission like this one. It would be too distracting. But, Masakaru would prevent it. He seemed to know what he was doing and wasn't romantically obsessed with Midori. It could work out. Omari turned to Masakaru. "You okay with that?"

"I guess so." Masakaru shrugged, casually stepping forward to Midori's area.

Midori squealed in excited voice, grabbed Masakaru and clung to him. Masakaru merely sighed. Midori turned Masakaru around to face her, grabbed his cheeks, and kissed him on the mouth. Masakaru twitched a small smile, but barely reacted to it. Omari noticed that the kiss had made Kanaye, Tomozaku, Ryo, and Zinan shiver with envy. She smiled to herself and shook her head. Stupid kids.

"Slicer? Zamu? What about you guys? Who's team do you want to be on?" Omari asked.

They both shrugged.

Omari closed her eyes and sighed. This would take too long. "Okay, that's it. The choices are done. How about I pick the teams from here?"

Just as everybody was about to protest, Omari quickly dished out the names of who would go on Midori's, Hikaru's, or her team. "Tomozaku, you're on Hikaru's team."

"Okay." Tomozaku neutrally replied, going over to Hikaru's group.

"Slicer, you're on Hikaru's team as well."

"WHAT?!" Both Slicer and Hikaru screamed out as Zamu started cracking up.

"But I _thought_ you said we had to go on teams with people who we work WELL with!" Slicer growled between clenched teeth as Hikaru vigorously nodded his head in agreement to Slicer's argument.

Omari glared at them. "Well, I lied. You two need to learn to get along better. Your rivalry is rediculous. Also, we need a real adult in that group who can set everyone straight. Slicer, you _are _on Hikaru's team. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

Slicer reluctantly walked over to Hikaru's group, and both started to pout.

Omari ignored them and continued. "Okay, Zinan, Ryo...you two might be able to work together well. You can be on Midori's team."

Kanaye shot Zinan and Ryo an jealous yet playful mean look. Zinan shot him back a smug look. Ryo and Zinan then proceeded to walk to Midori's group.

"Alrighty, then..." Omari tapped her chin before deciding. "And finally...Zamu and Kanaye, you're with me. ...And that should be all of us. Everybody's in a group now. Let me see how this looks." She stepped back and observed the groups she had put everybody in.

Omari nodded in approval. "Looks good. Okay, everyone ready to go?"

Everybody nodded.

"Alright. Let's go, everyone." Omari instructed loudly, leading all three of the new groups into the Avalanche Temple.

_**...Meanwhile, Deep Into The Avalanche Temple...**_

"Uugh...this place gives me the creeps..." Kouki shuddered as she walked past a small cage with a moldy skeleton hanging by two chains on the wall.

"Aargh! Where is this Rainbow Boulder supossed to be?!" Kamichi said, frustrated. "We've walked all the way over to the Hidden Rock Village, through the hottest desert in the land, and now we can't even find some stupid _rock_?! This makes me so mad! We've been out on this mission for almost a whole day! It's not supossed to take this long!!"

"Calm down, Kamichi..." Kiroku warned his best friend and teammate. "If we get all riled up and frustrated now, then we'll never find it."

"Yeah...I know..." Kamichi sighed.

"You know, you've been pretty angry and depressed nowadays. What's on your mind?" Kiroku asked curiously, turning torwards Kamichi and raising an eyebrow.

"I know...it's just..." Kamichi sighed. "I'm sorry, you guys. I've been pretty stressed out lately. I don't know why I'm so..."

Kouki reached over and patted Kamichi's back. "It's okay, Kamichi. We'll get through this mission, and then we can finally get out of here and get some fresh air."

Kamichi merely nodded as a reply. He didn't know why his new, more gangster-like boss had sent him on such a hard, boring mission. They had been in the Avalanche Temple for over two hours, and hadn't seen any enemy ninja yet. No excitement or anything. It was aggravating. He wondered if this whole thing was just a farce, a trick played on him by his cranky old boss. Maybe the dude just wanted to get rid of Kamichi and his new mini-squad.

Life as a thirteen-year-old was stressful. He didn't understand why. Maybe it was just because he was separated from the world he once knew for so long. He had been running from the Mizukage's troop for over a year. Squad number 45 was now at large at both the Raikage and the Mizukage's villages and they were constantly being chased. Life was tough, and running away from his problems just didn't seem to cut it anymore. Kamichi had to kill many he didn't know in the past, and the blood just kept on coming. He was now used to the sight, sound, feel, smell, and taste of blood. Bathing in someone elses' blood wasn't as frightening as it was before. It was all about blood. No matter where he went, he always saw blood. No shiver went through his spine when he saw blood anymore. Not that he welcomed or liked blood, but he was just used to it.

Kouki was still the same as ever. The only slight change was that she had come out of her shell a bit more ever since she had left Squad 101. Kamichi had seen Kouki use her Void Kunai many times, but never saw her release the monster inside of her ever since her battle with Midori, which was good. It meant that she had self-control. Kouki also dropped the purple cloak habit and dressed in normal clothes nowadays. The best thing was, she was still a bookworm and still was the kind and romantic girl that Kamichi loved.

Kiroku was quite an interesting one. Kamichi still didn't know why he had decided to let the kid on the team in the first place. Kiroku was fourteen years old, but looked to be about sixteen or seventeen. Most girls would find Kiroku as a very handsome young man. He was one of those 'pretty-boys' that was almost always trying to look good and act all heroic. Kamichi found it almost sickening, but eventually got over it and befriended him. Kiroku was one of those classically good looking guys that happened to have one of those weird personalities that made your perspective of him change after a good week or two.

Kiroku had golden-colored hair that spiked all around his head in a slanted right angle, but the spikes seemed easy, going with the flow of the wind. He had big, soft-looking brown eyes and flawless skin. Not to mention, he was quite muscular. Kamichi wasn't the least bit jealous of Kiroku. In fact, he actually felt sorry for him.

Kiroku looked quite tough, but was actually a shinobi with very poor and awkward skills. He only knew a few jutsus, and almost none of his moves were firect or smooth. Kiroku was kindhearted, but could be a little arrogant sometimes despite his weak, clumsy nature.

It was obvious that Kamichi was the most supportive of the group. Kouki was the swiftest of them all (although Kamichi was very, very fast), but Kamichi had improved his skills greatly and had become well-known around the area of forest he now lived nearby. He was the strongest. Kamichi had learned a few more techniques and jutsus as well, helping him out in escapes and battles that occupied a large portion of his time. Sure, he wasn't in the Mizukage's bingo book, but that was only because Kamichi hadn't faced him. Yet.

A new motivation kicked in all of a sudden. Kamichi was on a mission today. If he was ever going to acheive his goal as to beat the Mizukage in combat, then he needed to overcome the small tasks that lay in his way. Like obtaining the Rainbow Boulder.

He would overcome them all. Anybody who tried to stop him would get their heads smashed open like a stepped-on pumpkin. Nobody could get in his way. Nope. Not this time.

He would_ not _fail.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

They were in.

It was the spookiest, darkest place any of them had ever been in. Kanaye was already cowering behind Omari, but Omari had put a quick stop to that. When Omari turned to look at everybody, they were all shaking and/or nervously looking around at their new environment.

Omari glared at all of them. "Suck it up, you guys. This is where we are now. This is where it's all gonna happen. It's going to be a long day, so you might as well get used to the place now. Got it?" She sternly eyed the littler kids, one by one. She had to be especially tough today because she never had such a large group before. She also had to especially be harsh with the kids. They needed some serious discipline in both a mental and physical way.

"G-Got it..." Ryo and Kanaye responded nervously. Tomozaku, ignoring Omari, was just biting away at something on his stubby fingernail. Zinan was just looking at his feet.

Omari sighed.

"So, Omari, we're meeting back at seven o' clock tonight?" Hikaru asked Omari nervously, setting his wristwatch to go off at the exact time time to go so he wouldn't have to keep on nervously checking out his watch every five minutes.

"Yes." Omari nodded, seeming very sure of herself. This made Kanaye feel a bit better about not being on Zinan's team. Zamu seemed a bit uneasy, but he was strong. And Omari had that soldierly yet motherly personality that made him feel safe as well. This was going to be okay.

"Okay..." Hikaru mumbled, setting his digital watch in the right spot.

"Does everyone have their flashlight and spare batteries?" Omari asked.

Everybody nodded.

"Does anybody have to use the bathroom?" Omari asked. 

A little less than half of the group raised their hands. Hikaru was waving his right hand all over the place and doing that little kid's 'I-gotta-go-right-now' dance, but was just doing it to be sarcastic. Omari rolled her eyes.

"Too bad," Omari said sternly. "We've gotta move quickly. You should have went while you were in the desert. Go potty at your own time. Not now. We need to move out. Midori, Hikaru...are you two ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." Hikaru replied in a soldier-like manner.

"I sure am!!" Midori giggled.

Omari looked a little unsure for a moment, but shook herself out of her negative, 'what-if' thoughts. "Remember, you two...protect your teammates no matter what the cost, got that? Their safety is your number one priority right now, even more important than your goal on this mission. Keep them from harm. Even if it costs you your life."

Both of them nodded.

Omari nodded. She then pulled Hikaru into a slight hug. "Good luck. Be safe, okay? I know you're not used to being a leader and all, so..."

"Thanks, Omari. I'll be safe. Don't worry about me." Hikaru assured her gently as he stepped back into his group with Cyclone, Slicer, and Tomozaku.

"Alright." Omari said firmly, glancing over at the separated groups one last time. "Seven o' clock. Be here. Right by this pole here with the slash in it."

"But there are a bunch of different ones all over the place!!" Midori exclaimed. "How are we supossed to know which one we meet at? All of these poles are beat up and old. There's bound to be more than one pole with a slash in it."

Omari reconsidered this. Midori had a point. Finally, Midori's obsession with how 'pretty' objects appeared to be had payed off. "Hmm..." She scratched her chin for a moment, then snapped her fingers. She reached inside of her backpack and pulled out a pink Kingpin Kunais bandanna. She tightly tied it to the pole and stepped back for everyone to see. "There. Now we know where we'll meet for sure."

Hikaru gave her a funny look. "Where'd you get that?" There was one Kingpin Kunais bandanna for each color, but he had always thought that Tarina had kept them locked up somewhere in the hideout.

"Tarina told me where to find the key in one of my dreams," Omari explained briskly. "Before the mission, I decided to pull one out and take it with us in case we needed to mark anything."

Midori raised her eyebrows, and not just because of the beautiful bandanna that lay before her. "Wow. You always come prepared, don't you?"

"Tarina always said that being prepared is one of the main keys to becoming a great leader, along with having respect and always guiding your friends in the right direction." Omari said.

"But what if some guard sees it and knows we're here?" Zinan asked nervously. "We could get found out and chased down."

"Good." Omari responded simply, her arms crossed. "A little action wont hurt us. Now, are there anymore questions or complaints? Speak now or forever hold your peace. This is your last chance to talk."

Nobody responded.

"Alright, then." Omari smiled excitedly at the gloomy, nervous group. "We're aaaall ready to go. Wish each other farewell while you can. After all, we may never see each other again!"

That was when everybody started to panic.

Omari laughed. "KIDDING! I'm just kidding! Everything will be fine. And if something DOES happen, give it your all to fight. Never underestimate your opponent no matter what size or age. It will keep you doing your best. If an opponent underestimates you, you automatically have the advantage. They don't know how strong you really are so you could catch them off guard easily. Think positive. The new battle for life begins here."

The team exchanged worried looks, but finally nodded in Omari's direction.

"Okay. All three groups move out in separate directions. Meet back here at seven. Get moving, and good luck." Omari said in a serious tone.

"Right!" Both Hikaru and Midori started to lead their groups in opposite directions while Omari stood there with her arms folded, observing the way they were leading her groups. Midori's group went through the left archway, and Hikaru's group went through the right archway. Omari planned to take her group through the northern archway.

Before Masakaru could pass Omari, she lightly tapped his shoulder. Masakaru stopped and turned to look at her. "Hmm?"

Omari gave him a concerned look after she glanced ahead at Midori, who was cheerfully leading Zinan and Ryo through the tunnel. "Masakaru...please look after Midori. She means well and is trying to be all that she can be, but I don't think she's really that cut out for-...just keep an eye on her, okay? Don't let her do anything stupid. Ryo and Zinan wont know how to look out for her; they'll just be too preoccupied with her appearance. They'll agree with everything she says, and she'll end up not thinking some things over. She needs you. Just try to support her as much as you always do without her knowing." Omari whispered briskly.

"I know, Omari. Don't worry." Masakaru lightly smiled at her. "I wont let anything happen to her. I promise."

"Thank you, Masakaru. I knew I can count on you." Omari nodded, smiling back and giving him a slight hug. "Now, go catch up with Midori and the rest of the group. Good luck, and remember what I said about the time and all, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Bye, Omari!" Masakaru gave her a slight wave as he rushed off into the tunnel after Midori and the others.

Omari knew she could trust Masakaru to protect Midori, but something about this whole plan made her uneasy. This whole place. But, she couldn't let that get to her. She had to stay strong for her teammates so they wouldn't get too nervous. After all, this was only a job, right? A simple little job with many people involved.

Omari gulped. On this particular job, however, nothing was impossible. It was the Land of Exiles, after all. She slowly turned to Zamu and Kanaye. "Uh...we had better get going, too. We're headed up north, okay?"

"Got it." Kanaye and Zamu nodded.

"Alright. Let's go." Omari shuddered as she whipped out her flashlight, flicked on the switch, and lead her group through the dark tunnel leading to her unknown fate.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

Deep into the basement of the Avalanche Temple, a group of feirce and cruel guards were talking away in a small, white room, where the tiny screens of recorded events in the temple were viewed (via video camera). This room was where the traps were controlled and the orders were carried out to their workers through mind-peircing jutsus (for demons) and earpeices that carried out messages (for the human exiles).

Nuboru, the leader of the notorious bunch, smirked as he viewed the screens. "Looks like we've got company, guys."

The others cackled.

Nuboru turned to look at his most trusted worker "Masatoshi, do you have anything on these guys?"

The short and young red-haired ninja squinted at the various small screens at his post, took out a small remote control and rewinded to some of the parts where the fourteen intruders had showed up on the main archway's cameras. He zoomed in on each of the intruders' faces and clicked another button. All fourteen of them showed up on the large projector in front of the room.

Nuboru stepped over to the projector and studied the clear, black-and white images of the intruders. He raised his eyebrows. "Hmm. They all look to be pipsqueaks to me. Do we really have to worry about these guys?"

"Sir, don't you recognize their headbands?" A guard asked. "They're Hidden Mist ninja. Now we all know that intruders sent from this area are pretty uncommon, but it's pretty certain that they are after the Rainbow Boulder. Their status and abilities are unidentified because of their origin. We don't know anything, so we should be careful."

"Right." Nuboru mumbled as he continued to stare at the photos. After a few seconds, he started to cackle. "Ooh-hoh, I think we have a winner!"

"What do you mean?" The same guard asked, as confused as ever. He had no clue what his leader was talking about.

"Look at that one. I think we all know who that is." Nuboru grinned, pointing to the female intruder in the right hand corner.

"No, I don't know her. What's so special about her?" The guard asked as Masatoshi slowly approached the projector screen to take a look.

"Look at her cheeks." Nuboru pointed. "See those? That's what we want. Those golden markings may seem to be any clan's normal design, but they're not. They're actually summoners of immense powers, don't you see? They're like little chakra magnets. If we got that girl to flare them into the much larger barbel-form, we could cut them right off- or at least attatch them to one of our chakra-sucking devices."

"What's a _barbel_?" A nasaly-sounding kid asked from the corner of the security area.

Nuboru sighed in annoyance. Hiring exiled kids to work in the control room wasn't exactly his best idea yet. They didn't know anything about demons. "A barbel is a kind of thick whisker, sort of like the ones on a catfish. Only _this_ girl's barbels come out during intense battle, are golden, and also contain massive amounts of chakra."

Masatoshi stepped next to Nuboru and looked at the picture of the young girl with the blue bandanna on, now remembering who she was. "Ahh. The famous 'Demon Child' that came out of nowhere and attacked a neighboring village several years ago. Weird that she's still alive."

"Of course she is. Masami's daughter snatched her up at the last minute, remember?" Nuboru said.

"Oh, yeah." Masatoshi nodded, knowing who Nuboru was referring to. "...How _is _Masami, anyway?" Masatoshi asked curiously.

"Oh, her? Heh. Who cares? Prob'ly dead by now or something. Most likely got worked to death." Nuboru shrugged. "Eh, she deserves it, anyway. That's what she gets for drinking that chakra-empowering potion she stole from the Suchikage's house. What an idiot. All's Masami got out of that potion was a few demonic children and a nice trip to the Land of Exiles. Serves her right, I think."

"And speaking of Masami's demonic children..." Masatoshi said, guesturing to another picture at the top. "Look at that one. Looks awfully familiar, doesn't he?"

"Aah! Another point of interest. What a conicidence." Nuboru grinned. This day was just getting better and better. If he got his hands on these kids' powers, he'd finally get out of this wretched old temple. He'd be so powerful and rich in chakra, the Suchikage would be forced to surrender to he and his comrades. "Hikaru. I can tell it's him by the way he covers up that charm of his. Another source of power. We'll have to focus on him as well."

"But we have to be careful," Masatoshi warned. "I've heard that this kid's gotten strong since the last time we've confronted he and his sister. Remember, the charm on his head isn't just to symbolize his status. It withholds over half of his overall energy. And considering that the Midnight Demon is around, it'll make him at least fifteen times stronger. We can't approach him directly. One headbutt could kill you."

Nuboru sighed. Approaching Hikaru furtively was easier said than done. The kid was sharp. "Right."

"And there's one more..." Masatoshi said, nodding torwards another one. "We may not be as interested, but this sure is _intertesting. _Look who's decided to come back to the village."

Nuboru squinted at an image of a rather small boy with longish black hair, dark eyes, and a blue Hidden Mist headband. "Who's that?"

"That's the runt we sent away after our little war with the Hidden Sound. He's gotten quite old now. He must be about twelve or thirteen by now." Masatoshi replied casually. "They gave him the name of 'Kamichi', I think, because of the way he screamed when he was a newborn. They say he sounded like a monster."

"What?! How do you know?!" Nuboru shot Masatoshi a funny look.

Masatoshi laughed. "How do I know? I'll tell you how I know: I'm his uncle."

"You serious?"

"Yup. I'm the brother of his father- who is now dead, by the way. I'd recognize that boy's face from anywhere. Even though I haven't seen him since he was about a day old, there's no mistaking it. He's got his mother's face." Masatoshi calmly explained without being the least bit disturbed or excited that his own lost, cruelly abandoned nephew had been found after all of these years and was not dead.

"Wow." Nuboru raised his eyebrows. "Pretty amazing."

"I know." Masatoshi said, nodding. "But, anyway, he could be one of our main goals here today as well. I mean, you didn't think the Suchikage sent him away for nothing, did you?"

"What are you getting at?"

"They sent him away because they found that his chakra points were abnormal from birth. They're much larger than usual and hyperactive. It's almost impossible to get them to stop flowing, which gives him much speed and strength." Masatoshi explained while studying the picture of the boy. "The Suchikage also sensed evil -or at least a great source of dark, angry power- in this little baby as well, and so he sent him away to the Hidden Sound 'cause he thought the baby would grow and eventually destroy the entire village on impulse because of his abnormal chakra points. It was the perfect plan to get rid of the Hidden Sound while they were off guard, but...I guess that never ended up happening. According to the Hidden Sound, the boy had attacked one of the adult academy guards and had run away from the military campus."

"So...you're saying that he could be another source of power we could take as well?" Nuboru asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Masatoshi said. "All's we need to do is trap the demon girl, attatch her to a chakra device, and suck away all she's got. Then, after that, we trap Hikaru and sacrafice him to the Midnight Demon's spirit, who, of course was exiled here after his death. And finally, if that's not enough, we can trap Kamichi and suck away his chakra as well. And whatever pipsqueaks are left over after that can just be terminated like any other intruder."

"Heh. Sounds good." Nuboru grinned.

"Alright, then. Let's get started." Masatoshi said, turning to the group of about ten workers, who were all dressed in dark robes. "Alright, I want everybody to be at their stations, watch your screens, and report anything that you see. Our main targets are Masami's kid, the demon girl, and the long-haired kid. Also, make sure to notify the Keepers to watch out for them as well while they're on guard. And if Masami ends up still being alive, then do _not _notify her that Hikaru's here and alive. Try to keep her away from him, in fact. Just tell Masami who our other main targets are without arousing suspicion, got it? Now get going!"

"Right!" All of the young workers replied loyally at once. They then turned to their stations and got to work.

Nuboru watched as Masatoshi returned to his station as well, working away and writing down information. Everybody was busy, either watching the screens for any changes or notifying the temple's Keepers about the intruders. Everything was so orderly and awesome. Nothing could go wrong. He smiled to himself. "This is going to be fun."

_**...Turn To The Next Chapter After Reading This!!...**_

_**Hopefully, for most of you, this chapter was pretty self-explanitory unless you haven't read The First Impression. I, for one, thought this was a very exciting and revealing chapter. My fingers were FLYING when I wrote this! It was really fun to create, even though the layout of this chapter came from off the top of my head.**_

_**If you were paying attention, you would have realized that Hikaru and Tarina's mother's name is Masami. It is not known whether she is dead or alive, but we all know that she was definately kept as an exile/slave of the Avalanche Temple after she gave birth to her children. Also, as the new character Masatoshi (Kamichi's uncle) pointed out, it was forbidden to tell Masami that Hikaru was in the building (if she was alive, that is). If they were to see each other, it would mean trouble. So...let's just hope that Hikaru and Masami don't bump into each other!**_

_**Here's another interesting question: Will this whole predicament result in the return of the Midnight Demon? Well, we don't know for sure, yet, but we DO know that the Midnight Demon's broken spirit lies in the temple somewhere, enslaved as one of the Keepers of the Rainbow Boulder. I know this all may seem confusing at first glance, but try rereading it if you don't understand. It helps:)**_

_**Thank you very much for reading this chapter! Try to leave a review, and then proceed to the next chapter, please!**_


	3. The Ultimate Mission: 3: Trapped!

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 3: Trapped!**_

_**Okay, I know that there are alot of things going on in this chapter, but try to keep up with it the best you can, okay? The overall search party for the Boulder is broken up into several groups (including Kamichi's group), and it may seem confusing at first. But, somehow, most of them end up in the same place. Happy Reading...:)**_

"This place is SO awesome!!" Tomozaku squealed as he excitedly looked around the dark, seemingly endless hallway leading to even more dark and endless hallways.

"No, it's not. It's confusing and aggravating! This makes no sense!! What goon would build a temple that has absolutley no separate rooms to check out and just dead ends?!" Hikaru yelled as he walked on, annoyed by the temple's peculiar structure.

Tomozaku flinched.

"It's not just a temple that has no rooms and all hallways, screwball! There has to be separate rooms somewhere!" Slicer yelled back from behind Hikaru, just as aggravated. "I think that you're just leading us in circles! We've passed that skeleton twice!"

"There are skeletons all over the place, Taizo! And stop calling me names!"

"Not untill you stop being stupid!"

"Well, all's I'm saying is that we did NOT already pass that skeleton, and that's final." Hikaru retorted.

"We did too!! This is the only skeleton that has a Hidden Sand headband with a green-and-black outfit! How harebrained are you?!? Ooh- see?! There's the skeleton again!" Slicer yelled suddenly as he pointed. "We passed this skeleton three times already! We've been heading in the exact same direction the entire time! Now, I think we should turn to the left and see how it goes." Slicer said.

"No! We're turning right!" Hikaru growled.

"We've been turning right for over thirty minutes now! We're wasting time! You have absolutley no idea what you're doing!" Slicer said.

"Do too!" Hikaru yelled. "We did not pass this skeleton before, Slicer! I know what I'm doing! You're just jealous that a 'harebrain' like me is the leader and you're not!"

"Uugh!" Slicer growled loudly. He suddenly whipped around to face Tomozaku and Cyclone, who both flinched. "You guys! Tell Hikaru we've seen his skeleton three times already and that he's leadng us in circles! Tell him that he's being stupid and is the worst leader ever!"

Cyclone gave Slicer a weird look. "I sure don't remember seeing the skeleton before..." He said truthfully.

"You're just covering for your buddy, aren't you, Cyclone? Kissing up to him!" Slicer growled accusingly as Cyclone vigorously shook his head in denial. He then whipped around to Tomozaku. "What about you?"

"Personally, I think we have seen the skeleton before." Tomozaku said, a little scared of what Slicer's response was going to be. He wasn't kissing up to Slicer, just telling him what he had seen. "Hikaru, I think you are leading us in circles. I mean, not that you're doing a bad job or anything-"

"Of course he's doing a bad job!" Slicer exploded. "He's doing an awful job! See, Hikaru?! Even Tomozaku thinks you're leading us in the wrong direction!"

"I don't think it really matters which way we're going." Cyclone glared at Slicer. "It's not like we know where anything is. Besides, I've seen different skeletons every time. Hikaru's right. There are skeletons everywhere."

"Uugh! What if neither of us are right?" Hikaru exploded. "What if some form of genjustsus being used on us to make us see different things so we could turn against one another?! Look, I don't care if I'm right or wrong! I just want to get this mission over with and get out of this creepy place!"

Slicer, Tomozaku, and Cyclone all looked at each other.

"And you two!" Hikaru whipped around and pointed at Tomozaku and Cyclone. "Don't be those little kiss-ups that you've always been! You HAVE to tell me if you really saw the skeleton before or not! Don't agree with your role model! Agree with who is really right! If I've been leading us in circles, Cyclone, you had better tell me right now so we can turn left!"

Both Cyclone and Tomozaku flinched again.

"B-But Your Goonliness...I really didn't see the skeleton before. I'm being really truly honest here!" Cyclone whimpered, twiddling his thumbs. Hikaru couldn't help noticing that he still had his soft, kitten-like foot pads, but could move his hands around freely as if they were human hands. Now that was just weird.

"Yeah...and I did see the same skeleton!" Tomozaku insisted quietly.

"Alright, that does it!" Slicer yelled, stopping in his tracks. "Forget what Omari said! We're not going to get through this mission together peacefully. We're simply not getting along. Something has to be done."

Hikaru shot him a funny look as he stopped, too. "What do you mean?"

"We're going our separate ways, Hikaru. Sorry, but I'm not taking the risk of letting you get hurt." Slicer said simply.  
"Hurt?!" Hikaru exclaimed. "How would I get hurt?!"

"Because!" Slicer growled through his teeth, his fists clenched. "Uuuugh...you're just so annoying, Hikaru! I swear, I just want to strangle you sometimes!!"

Hikaru looked slightly hurt and angry at the same time.

"And if I end up hurting you, then Omari will get mad at me, and either kill me or kick me off of the team. Don't you see? I could get off the team because of your annoying-ness, and then what will I do? Nothing. No employment. And the same goes for you, Hikaru. If either of us starts something, it'll advance into a fist fight. Then, we'll be off the team. So, I'm separating myself and Tomozaku from you and Cyclone. It's the only way we can go." Slicer said.

"Wait! You can't just leave!" Hikaru said. "I'm the leader!! I can't let you! Omari will get mad at me!!"

"If I stay with you any longer, you'd be bound to get hurt, anyway!" Slicer shot back. He then took Tomozaku's wrist. "C'mon. We're going left."

"What?!" Hikaru screamed in fury, his fists shaking. "Grrrr...FINE, THEN! Leave! See if I care."

"Yeah...we'll see." Slicer snorted as he started to walk away with Tomozaku. "We'll see how much Omari cares, too, when I tell her you just let us stray away from the group."

"Nooo, wait! I mean...whatever!" Hikaru yelled at his two leaving teammates. He then turned to a very tense Cyclone. "We'll keep on going right and find the Rainbow Boulder first, wont we, Cyclone?!"

"Uh...sure." Cyclone shrugged, sighing dramatically.

"Yeah!" Hikaru sneered after Slicer. "We'll see! We'll see how long it takes untill I hear you goons desperatley screaming my name."

"Pff! You probably wont hear us because we'll be too far away!" Slicer retorted cockily as he proceeded to walk away untill he was out of sight along with a very confused Tomozaku.

"Uuugh! Omari's gonna kill me now!" Hikaru growled. He started to kick the wall, cursing loudly to himself. "Uurgh! ...Gonna be in trouble! ...All stupid Taizo's fault!"

"Woah, woah. Easy there. No need for that. We'll find our way out of this. Really." Cyclone assured him, easing his master away from the wall.

"Y-...Yeah. I guess so..." Hikaru sighed as he backed away from the wall and looked out into the hallway sadly.

Suddenly, Cyclone's eyes widened in horror and sudden realization. He gasped. They would be in so much trouble. "Ohhh, man...Hikaru..."

"What?!" Hikaru asked, alarmed.

"Slicer and Tomozaku..."

"Wh-What?! What about them?!" Hikaru demanded.

"...don't have a watch."

...Meanwhile...

"C'mon, you guys!" Midori yelled excitedly, ahead of her three male teammates. "We haven't got all day!"

"We're coming..." Ryo mumbled grumpily. Midori's constant optimistic attitude was driving him crazy, and him only. Masakaru didn't care and seemed to be used to it. And, as for Zinan, well, he seemed to be too busy staring at her to notice her agitating attitude. Sure, Ryo liked Midori, but still.

Zinan glanced at Ryo for a second, then rushed up next to Midori as she walked on. "H-Hey, Midori!"

Midori turned halfway and smiled. "Oh, hey, Zinan."

"Uh...so...you need anything?" Zinan asked, blushing slightly. He had to be supportive of his leader. She was the boss, after all. Besides, he liked talking to Midori. Talking to such a beautiful girl made him feel well-liked and grown-up.

"No, thank you. I'm fine for now." Midori cooed.

Zinan twitched. He didn't know what to say after that. And now, walking next to her seemed kind of stupid since he couldn't get anything for her.

Masakaru, who was watching the two from behind, snorted.

Zinan heard it and his cheeks grew red. He then held back a bit and waited for Masakaru to catch up to him. "How come she likes you so much instead of me?" He whispered furiously.

"Probably because you're too young, Zinan." Masakaru replied smoothly. "I mean, I like her, but I don't get why you guys are so crazy about her. Hey, I'm not being arrogant or anything, but girls like Midori almost always seem to like frequently annoyed guys who don't talk very much. Heh. Go figure."

"It's not fair!" Zinan protested. "How come the girl always ends up being with the guy that doesn't love her as much, and then the guy who DOES like her gets treated like he doesn't exist?! It's so messed up!"

Masakaru laughed lightly. "You're a kid, Zinan. You shouldn't be worrying about girls now. I don't worry. I just go with the flow, I guess."

Zinan continued to pout.

The group walked on in silence for a while, untill about after ten minutes Midori stopped in the middle of one of the dark, endless hallways and stared at something on the wall.

"What is it?" Masakaru started to walk over to where Midori was standing.

Masakaru saw Midori poke at the object on the wall and grimace. Midori stepped back from the wall, faced the others, and pointed at the wall. "Lookit! There's some kind of goo over here!"

"Goo?" Masakaru repeated in a skeptical tone. He approached the wall and stared at the goo. Just as Midori was about to touch the glowing, jiggling red goo again, Masakaru grabbed her wrist. "Don't."

"Why not?" Midori turned to give him a questioning look.

"You don't know what that stuff is or where it came from." Masakaru said sternly, letting go of her. "You can't just go poking at things that are sticking to walls. For all you know, that could be the worst type of poison in the world that could kill you with one touch. For all you know, you could die in ten seconds."

"Eeeee! I'm gonna die?!" Midori cried, alarmed.

"No, Midori. I was just being hypothetical." Masakaru sighed. "All's I'm saying is that you really shouldn't be messing with stuff you don't know abou- hey! What are you doing?! Don't do that!"

"Why?" Midori shrugged as she continued to scoop the strange red goo into a small clear jar. "I'm just taking it to observe later. That's all."

"Still, Midori! Didn't you just hear a word I said?! You don't know what that crap is!" Masakaru exclaimed in a panic, starting to take the jar out of her hands. "Lemme see that!"

"Masakaru, c'mon! Give it back!" Midori cried as Masakaru held the jar away from her reach. She made a grab for it, but Masakaru dodged her and held it even farther away from her.

"No," Masakaru replied sternly, but wasn't mean about it. "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, Midori. I'm doing this because I care about you. I want to protect you from anything that could possibly hurt you."

Midori was touched by Masakaru's words. Her eyes grew soft, and it was obvious that she wanted to kiss him right about now. "Aww...Masakaru..."

Masakaru just shot her another stern look as he took the jar's lid out of Midori's hand. "Now, we're going to lock this up and put it down. We're not taking it with us, alright? We have no clue what it is."

"Okay, Masakaru..."

Just as Masakaru was about to put the lid on the now goo-contaminated jar, the goo suddenly started growing and bubbling at a very fast rate. Masakaru yelped in surprise and dropped the jar. Midori just stared.

The glass jar had instantly shattered to the ground and the red gooey stuff suddenly stopped growing. It now lay on the ground in a medium-sized glowing heap that did the occasional vibrate. Everybody just looked at it.

Masakaru finally groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "Alright. That's that. Now that it's on the ground, we leave it as it is. Nobody touches it. That includes you, Midori."

Midori sighed. "Fine..."

After a few more seconds of everybody except Masakaru still staring at the goo, Masakaru sighed in annoyance and started to turn in the other direction. "Okay. It's over. The goo is on the floor. Let's move on with our lives, people."

"Right." Came Ryo and Zinan's loyal reply as they started to turn with Masakaru.

Suddenly, a loud, muffled scream came from behind Masakaru. Masakaru, along with Ryo and Zinan, whipped around to see that Midori had the red glowing goo all around her mouth. It looked as if she was chewing on it, but it was oozing out of her mouth at the same time. The heap of goo on the ground was gone.

"MIDORIIII! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Masakaru screeched, slapping his hands to his head. "Why would you eat that stuff after I told you not to even touch it?! Spit it out, right now!!!"

"Mmph! Ahh cnnph!" Midori screamed back. Obviously, she didn't have control over the stuff. It was practically choking her, the red goo writhing around on her face and in her mouth while everybody else went into complete hysterics. After a few seconds, poor Midori was forced to swallow the tangy-tasting goo. The goo slithered down her throat, burning all the way down to her stomach.

Midori was instantly on the floor, gagging, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. She coughed out a small glob of the stuff and moaned.

Zinan gasped and quickly bent down next to her. "Midori!! What happened! A-Are you hurt?!"

"Are you crazy?!" Masakaru screamed. "You ate it! You were actually ditsy enough to eat it! Why, Midori?! Why would you do such a thing?!"

Midori coughed a couple more times, shuddered, and finally sat up, breathing heavily. "I didn't eat it on purpose," She gasped. "I wasn't that stupid. I-...when you turned your back, it suddenly...jumped up and forced itself on me."

"What?!" Masakaru's eyes widened with horror as he stared at where the goo had once been. The spot on the ground was scorched. What was that stuff?!

"Masakaru, what are we gonna do?!" Ryo cried. "How are we gonna get that goo out of her system?! That stuff is bound to be toxic!"

Midori looked as if she didn't have a care in the world. She shrugged. "So what? All of my insides are made of radioactive toxic goop. Maybe it wont hurt me at all. Maybe it'll just...y'know, blend in." She said, trying to look on the bright side of things.

"Or maybe it'll turn you into a gooey red monster!" Masakaru cried with worry. "C'mon! We have to be real, here, Midori! You have to throw that stuff up right now!"

"What?! Ew! I am NOT throwing up!" Midori said in a disgusted tone.

"C'mon, Midori! You have to! I'm almost certain that stuff wasn't exactly something to boost your strength! Throw it up, now! Stick your fingers down your throat and get it over with! This could be a matter of life or death!" Masakaru demanded.

"No, Masakaru! I don't want to throw up!" Midori yelled.

"Uugh! That's IT!" Masakaru screamed, tackling Midori down and pinning her. He then forced his own two fingers in her mouth, despite Midori's desperate squirming. As soon as they were in her mouth, he shoved them down her throat far enough so they touched the dangling pinkish thing in the back of it.

Masakaru then yanked his fingers out of Midori's mouth, quickly sat her up, and moved away as Midori clutched her stomach and vomited red and green goo all over the hallway. Ryo and Zinan grimaced, and Masakaru just sighed, wiping his saliva-covered fingers on his pants.

Midori shuddered, stood up, and dusted herself off without a word. She grimaced. Not liking the taste of vomit, she spit onto the ground.

Masakaru gasped. What had come out of Midori's mouth was not saliva, but green goo, the substance that Midori always used during combat.

"Huh?!" Midori's eyes widened at the discovery. She spit onto the ground again. More goo. The stuff that came out of her mouth was not thick like goo and felt to be saliva, but it wasn't. Midori then licked her palm and watched as the clearish saliva turned into goo in about a half a second. The radioative goo dripped from Midori's shaking hand.

Of course. Midori's saliva instantly turned into the radioactive goo, something that she had never been able to do before.

Midori gasped in horror. "Oh, no! Th-This isn't good, Masakaru! How do we undo it?! How am I ever going to kiss you again?!"

"I-I don't know!" Masakaru exclaimed loudly. He didn't really care about the kissing part. He just hoped that Midori was going to be okay. "You shouldn't have touched that slime in the first place!"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that now!" Midori cried. "We need to find out how to fix this! I don't want to be spitting goo for the rest of my life!"

Masakaru sighed. "Look, Midori, we could try a whole bunch of different things to help you, but it'll just take too long! We can't try to fix you now. We have to continue on our mission."

"B-But-"

"No buts! There's nothing we can do right now. Maybe this side effect of the goo wont kill you. We have to at least try to find the Rainbow Boulder while we can! Our job always comes first!" Masakaru said firmly. When Midori started to sniffle and look very upset, Masakaru's eyes softened. "Look, Midori...m-maybe we'll bump into Zamu on the way. He's all about medical stuff like this. Maybe he can fix it, alright? Everything's gonna be okay. I promise." Masakaru said gently and pulled her into a little hug.

Midori continued to cry.

Masakaru exchanged worried glances with Ryo and Zinan. "Everything will be fine, Midori. We're going to help you. But for now, we just have to keep on going."

"O-Okay..." Midori whimpered, nodding slightly and wiping the last of her tears away. She took Masakaru's hand and followed him towards the next hallway, which was to the right. Ryo and Zinan briskly followed from behind.

Just as the group was about to reach the next hallway, a loud creaking sound went off beneath them. It sounded as if something had opened.

"What was that?!" Ryo cried, staring down at the ground with his eyes widened.

Before Masakaru could squeak out an unsure reply, the stone ground beneath them split open, causing them to all fall ten feet to the hard, cold basement ground. Masakaru quickly stood and gaped at the hole above him. The hole quickly closed up once again so they couldn't get out.

The group, still stunned from the sudden fall, looked around to find a large room-sized, sturdy-looking cage surrounding them. Three walls of cage bars were entrapping them along with a stony wall in the back leading to another small room. Midori gasped and started to cry even harder than she was before as soon as she found out where she was. Ryo just shook his head in aggravation. Zinan groaned.

They were trapped. Caught. Finished. It was clear that they wouldn't be getting out of this one anytime soon. There was nothing to do now but wait.

Masakaru sighed as he sat in a criss-cross position, his chin resting on his hand. "Lovely."

...Meanwhile...

"Sir, we've just got reports on a new intruder entering the Avalanche Temple at this time." A guard rushed over to Nuboru, who was relaxing in his favorite spinning chair while reading a book about Ultra Kunais.

Nuboru blinked, put a bookmark inside of the page he was on, and slammed the book shut. He turned to look at the guard and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Well, let's see 'em."

"Right away, Sir..." The guard replied as he clicked a button on his own remote and a few images appeared on the projector screen in place of the other fourteen. "These are the best images we've gotten so far of the newer intruder."

"Alright, then..." Nuboru scratched his chin and stared at the images as Masatoshi stood from his own chair and walked next to Noboru to look at the pictures. The images frightened him deeply and he shivered.

Masatoshi gulped. He couldn't believe this.

"It can't be..." Nuboru laughed uneasily.

Masatoshi gasped. "It is. It's Masami's eldest child, Tarina. Hm. She'll definatley be a hard one to deal with. And her exotic head charm is in full view this time, too. Sh-She's dead as well. Some kind of guardian angel spirit or somethin'. She has to be, since the Sunrise Demon's spirit lies in this temple as well."

Nuboru just smirked. "Well, you know what this means, right? More chakra for us!"

"I don't know, Nuboru..." Masatoshi said uncertainly. "Tarina is a pretty well-known rogue ninja. Most definatley the strongest female of the Hidden Mist, possibly the overall strongest person of the Hidden Mist. I don't think we can harness her power OR negotiate with the Sunrise Demon herself to get her back. We had better just focus on the little guy Hikaru for now"  
"But...this girl...Tarina...she interests me. I want to see exactly what she's capable of. It's been quite a while since I've seen her." Nuboru said with a grin. "I'd like to have some fun with her anyway. For old time's sake. We can get her all riled up and see how many of our pathetic Keepers she can kill off before sunrise. Let's keep an eye on her as well and see if we can maybe guide her to the chamber withholding her demon. Then, we can strike out if her power beholds an opening."

"Right."

_**...Back On The First Floor Of The Temple...**_

"Slicerrr?! Tomozakuuuu?! You there?!" Hikaru yelled out, hands cupped to his mouth so it would exceed the level of sound coming out.

"C'mon, you guys! At least get a watch from us first before running off!" Cyclone yelled out to the next dark hallway to the left.

The two had been walking aimlessly to the right the entire time, and after a little while, they had discovered that the skeleton from before was not the same as the first three. The skeletons had looked pretty similar, but not by much. The scenery was the same everywhere, explaining Slicer's argument in the first place. Hikaru had not been leading the original group in circles, after all.

But it was too late to explain that to Slicer now. He was gone now. No watch, and nothing but a little frightened kid by his side. The very thought made Hikaru and Cyclone nervous, but Slicer was a tough guy. He could take care of himself easily.

Hikaru stopped dead in his tracks, with a worried and upset look on his face. He took off his bandanna and wiped his now sweaty face (despite the fact that it was cold). "If anything happens to Slicer, then I'll get in big trouble! Besides...I don't want him to get hurt!"

Cyclone stopped, too. "What! I thought you hated Slicer!"

Hikaru looked surprised and crossed his arms. "Huh?! I never hated that guy! I mean, I know he didn't like me because I always instigated him, but...I-I guess I never really noticed how awesome of a ninja I always thought he was..."

Cyclone shook his head and sighed. "You make no sense." His ears suddenly perked up as he sensed somebody's footsteps in the hallway. It was a person, coming closer and closer to where they both were. Cyclone shivered and turned around. Who could it be?

A pretty yet pale-looking woman peeked from the entrance in the hallway, with a worried look on her face. She had silvery eyes and long black hair, and wore a strange black hat, long enough to cover her forehead. Broken rusty shackles were worn around her ankles and wrists, and she wore a long black robe. She saw Cyclone looking at her and gave him a slight smile. Cyclone continued to stare. He was a little disturbed by the weird woman's appearance, but not frightened at all.

She then rested her eyes on Hikaru (who was daydreaming and not even noticing her) and tears formed in her eyes. She wiped them away with her black robe's sleeve and she trembled.

The kind yet sick-looking woman gave a slight wave and smile in Hikaru and Cyclone's direction. Cyclone waved back, which finally caught Hikaru's attention.

"Who are you waving to?" Hikaru shot him a look.

"Her," Cyclone pointed to the archway, but the woman had gasped and ran away from the area right before Hikaru had the chance to catch sight of her. He could still hear the woman's frighened, light footsteps running further away from the two of them.

"Who?" Hikaru asked.

Cyclone flinched. "I-I dunno. There was some strange crying lady in the doorway looking at you and me. She smiled at me, then waved and well...left."

"Really? What did she look like?" Hikaru asked, interested.

"She looked...well...kind of like..." Cyclone almost said 'you', but decided not to. Hikaru would just deny it, and it would probably make Hikaru feel funny. "Uuh...I dunno. She had black hair, and uh...was kind of pretty, but definatley older than Tarina."

"Huuh. Who do you think it was?"

"Probably one of the temple Keepers. Y'know, the people who hold the keys to the chambers and look after the place and stuff. But, I dunno about them...I get the feeling that the people who live around here are weirdies. They must all be starving and longing to see some light...the darkness must get to their heads." Cyclone said, but when he turned to look at Hikaru, he was already running off in the direction the woman went. "Heeey! Hikarruuu! Where are you going?!"

"I'm following the Keeper! Come on!" Hikaru yelled over his shoulder. "Maybe she can tell us if she saw Slicer and Tomozaku!"

"Your Goonliness!" Cyclone yelled, running after him as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. "The Keepers aren't our friends!! They're the ones who set off all of the traps and stuff! We're supossed to be HIDING from them, not following them!"

"Too bad!" Hikaru screamed back as he started to run even faster down the very wide hallway. He suddenly saw a small, barefooted form up ahead, racing towards what looked to be a dead end. "I see her, Cyclone!"

Hikaru knew that this was a stupid and dangerous idea, but if they didn't take a little risk, then all would be lost. There was nothing else to do, anyway.

"Wait! Why are we chasing her again?!" Cyclone cried as he jumped off of the ground and took off on his wings so he could relax more and catch up with Hikaru.

"We're gonna go talk to her! Ask for directions!" Hikaru called back breathlessly.

The chase went on for several minutes, which was about the time it took for Hikaru to see the running woman in plain view. Hikaru figured that the woman was in earshot by now. "Heeey! Heeeey! Slow down! Please!" He called out to her.

The woman quickly looked over her shoulder. Hikaru saw that she had a very familiar-looking face. He felt his charm tremble when he saw her eyes, but figured it was only because he was running out of regular energy already and was preparing to use his next level of speed. The woman cried out at the sight of Hikaru and ran even faster.

"Waaaaiiit! I just wanna talk! I'm not gonna hurt you! I'm just a kid!" Hikaru yelled desperatleu. "C'mon, lady!! Just slow down a littl- wooaahh!" Hikaru screamed as a huge steel cage came crashing down on he and Cyclone at the last minute as they reached the end of the hallway. Hikaru skidded to a stop and whirled in a full circle to view his new surroundings.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Hikaru screamed out in frustration, slamming himself against the cage bars. He shook them vigorously and screamed out in absolute rage, like a wild gorilla trapped in a zoo. "DAMMIT!!!"

Cyclone sighed as she approached the cage bars and wrapped his little paws against them, peering out into the huge hallway that they had ran so fast and hard to get through. "Aww, man..."

Hikaru whipped around to glare at the strange woman, who looked kind of upset. "You HAG! You duped us!!"

The woman looked as if she was about to cry. "But I-I...I didn't dupe you! You just happened to fall into one of the traps, that's all. I was frightened when I saw you running towards me...I'm sorry, honey..." Her eyes grew soft.

Hikaru looked both appalled and disgusted. Obviously, he wasn't used to kind adults (besides Tarina) calling him that. Maybe 'twerp' or 'hooligan' once in a while, but never 'honey'. "Honey?! Eww! That is SO gross! I am NOT your honey, and I will never will be!"

The woman just looked at him sadly, and sniffled.

"What's with the tears?!" Hikaru demanded. "Just get us out of here RIGHT NOW! I will NOT be entrapped like an animal! If you don't let me out right this second, then I swear that by the time I bust out of here, I'll come back here and hunt you down no matter what!"

The woman was seemingly oblivious to Hikaru's threat. She walked over to the cage. Hikaru stood face to face with her, the only thing separating the two being a cage wall where somebody could easily be pulled in if there was enough force and the person was skinny enough.

"Let...me...out...now..." Hikaru growled quietly, his eyes turning a bright red color. He felt his nails suddenly growing sharper and longer, and his teeth growing sharper and more dangerous. Hikaru didn't even know he could do this anymore, but . He felt as if the Midnight Demon's presence was not exactly inside of him, but near. It made him feel empowered. He was deleloping werewolf-like fangs all of a sudden and his charm was shaking. "Let me out, or I'll pull you in here and kill you."

The woman seemed unafraid, or at least not paying attention. She was too busy staring at his charm and his face, tears streaming down her face.

"That does it!" Hikaru growled. What he was doing right now wasn't just to imdimidate the woman so she'd let him out. For some reason, Hikaru felt bloodthirsty all of a sudden. He wanted to hurt her for something, but wasn't sure what. He hated her. Just the image of her made Hikaru go wild. His hair grew longer and spiked from the visible dark chakra whipping dangerously around his young body. His muscles grew. His usual scratchy, feisty-sounding little voice was replaced with a more mature, deeper, and more deadly-sounding one. This was not a joke. This was the real thing. Hikaru wanted out, and he wanted out now.

The woman let out a small, pitiful cry as Hikaru grasped her neck and forced her through the bars none too painlessly. Hikaru roughly threw her onto the stony ground, and loomed over her. "Now, give me the keys right this second and I wont hurt you as bad as I'm about to."

Cyclone cried out, "Hikaru! Calm down and leave her alone! There has to be a better way out of this!!" He wasn't really in the mood for a gorefest at the moment.

"Not untill she gives me the keys!!"

"I...I'm sorry...I'm sorry, sweetie...I just..." The woman sobbed quietly, but Hikaru couldn't hear her or understand her tear-filled utterances. She didn't even try to move away from Hikaru. She knew what she deserved. "I...I just couldn't keep you...they wouldn't let me...but...I knew I should have come after you..."

She squeezed her eyes shut as Hikaru lunged for her. After a few seconds of waiting, she heard a loud thump, and no pain had come to her. She slowly opened one of her eyes and saw that Cyclone had hit Hikaru hard enough so he fell back and away from the woman.

"Cyclone!! What do you think you're doing?! Get outta my way!" Hikaru screeched, enraged that his best friend would dare to betray him like this. Of course, Hikaru's darker side had taken over his general personality, but he still had feelings for Cyclone. Hikaru shoved Cyclone aside and went for the Keeper woman again.

"No, Your Goonliness! I'm not letting you turn back into the jerk you were before!! You're not to lay a hand on her no matter what!" Cyclone yelled, charging in Hikaru's way and headbutting him in the chest as hard as possible (which was pretty hard).

Hikaru cried out and fell back again. Hikaru slowly started to regain his footing once more, but Cyclone summoned most of his chakra to his head, puffed out his spikes, and reluctantly charged for his best friend for the final time.

"Yaaaaaaahh!" Cyclone screamed as he jumped up and slammed his chakra-empowered head into Hikaru's own forehead, his little arms unintentionally spread-eagled by the force of his own incredible powers.

The serious blow had knocked Hikaru off of his feet this time, and Hikaru fell onto his back, his charm and rest of his forehead gushing blood. The hit had knocked the demonic power-up out of focus, and he was now slowly changing back to his normal size. He moaned, and his eyelids tightened as the woman got up from the ground and rushed to Hikaru's aid despite the attempted vicious attack on her.

"Oh, dear, oh, dear..." The woman mumbled to herself, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a large bandage used for wrapping up head wounds. Cyclone watched uncomfortably as the woman bent down and kissed his charm as if she knew him. Cyclone wanted to know why, but decided not to bring it up. The woman then carefully lifted his head a little and wrapped the pad-like bandage around his head. Both Cyclone and the woman knew that it would be a while before Hikaru regained funn consciousness. After she was finished with him, the woman turned to Cyclone and stared at him with her big, sad eyes.

"Uuuh..." Cyclone looked uneasy.

"I would just like to thank you for helping me out when, uh...Hikaru...was about to attack me. I appreciate it." The woman said in a soft and slow monotone.

"Uuh...no problem." Cyclone shrugged. "Anyway, I have to hold him back from fights all of the time but...never like this. I dunno what's up with him. He must be a little frustrated with this stupid spooky maze of a temple. Sorry about that." Personally, Cyclone really didn't care about being locked up in a cage. Most humans would freak if they were locked in a cage for more that five minutes, and Cyclone found that very peculiar. He had always thought cages were kind of cozy. Anyway, he could slip through this cage's particular bars at anytime.

The woman opened her mouth slightly as if she was about to protest or disagree with what Cyclone had just said, but then decided not to choose that topic to talk about. "So...um...you're Cyclone, right?"

Cyclone blinked. "Uuh...yes. Yes, I am."

"My name is Masami. I am one of the Keepers here at Avalanche Temple. It's nice to meet you." Masami stuck out her hand for Cyclone to shake. Cyclone shook it, and was a bit surprised at her firm, confident grip compared to her spacey, hesitant appearance.

"It's, uh...nice to meet you, too."

"You must be one of the intruders." Masami said casually. She said it so plainly, as if being an intruder was just an everyday, normal thing that was often expected.

"Uh..." Cyclone didn't really know how to reply to this. "Yeah...I'm...uh...one of them."

Masami merely nodded, then continued to stare sadly off into space.

Cyclone had a very weird feeling in his stomach. This woman's attitude made him nervous and unsure of himself. Like he was doing something wrong. "Uh...soooo...you gonna let us out?"

"Yeah," Masami merely shrugged with a tiny smile on her face. "...Eventually."

...Later That Evening...

"Uugh! Where are they?!" Omari yelled as she and the rest of her group stood nearby the pole with the bandanna tied around it. She had been waiting for several minutes already, and nobody had shown up.

"Maybe they're having a hard time finding the enterance," Zamu said worriedly.

"Or maybe..." Kanaye stammered, shaking with worry and nervousness. "Maybe they got ate up by a big dragon thing!!" He fretted, not trying to sound humorous in any way whatsoever.

"Would you two just stop it?! I've had it with your worrying! I mean, it's okay to be caring enough to worry about your friends to some extent, but gee whiz!!" Omari exploded. "Just shut up for once! They're all probably on their way to the enterance right now, and they did NOT get 'ate up by a big dragon thing'!"

Zamu sighed. "Calm down, Omari. You know that you're just as worried as we are."

Omari looked down and ran her hand through her hair. "I-I know. I'm sorry, Zamu. It's just that..."

Zamu gave her a concerned look. "You okay? No offense, but you've been pretty blunt and stressed out lately. Like the way you kicked Midori earlier..."

"You saw that?!" Omari cried out, alarmed. After a few moments, she sighed and settled down once more. "Uuh...I don't know. What's wrong with me?" She plopped down onto the ground, back against the marked pole.

Zamu sat next to her, soon followed by Kanaye. "You know, maybe you have too much on your mind. Being the one in charge of everything all of the time must be tough and stressful work. After this mission, you should take a break."

Omari just looked at him. "What do you mean, take a break? Give my job to someone else for a while?" She asked skeptically. Omari couldn't afford to temporarily give up her position. Nobody else seemed fit for it. Omari wasn't being concieted, but truthful. Nobody really had much experience of being a leader but her. Omari also couldn't afford to see one of her teammates fail or get hurt by taking on the risky position of being temporary leader.

"That's exactly what I mean. You seem sick, Omari. You really need a break from all of this." Zamu said. "Give the position to Hikaru for a while. It would help you alot, and I'm sure it would make Hikaru happy. He likes to be in the spotlight."

"B-But- I don't think I want to...I-" Omari stammered helplessly. Sure, Hikaru once led an army of trained shadow slaves, but he had created them to obey him. It wasn't like he had any real experience...

"Hey, hey." Zamu put his hands up. "I'm not making you do anything. I'm merely suggesting that you take more time off of your missions. Besides, if Hikaru was ever the temporary leader, we would all take it easy. No big missions or anything."

"But Zamu," Omari said. "I'm not sure I would feel any better if I just sat around the hideout doing nothing but take orders. I...I always seem to have the urge to be a leader and not a follower. I mean, a leader needs followers more than anything, otherwise he or she wouldn't be one. I'm not a control freak or anything, but..."

"I know what you mean," Zamu sighed. "Your a natural born leader, and you pride yourself on that position. But, I was thinking that maybe Master Atoshi could take you in for a while."

"Huh?!"

"Well, why not? I'm sure he would be more than happy to do so. He could take you in, train you for a while, then send you back after about a month or so. I know it may not seem much fun hanging around with an old guy, but still. You could really benefit from it." Zamu said. "You already go to see him a few times a week. It couldn't hurt."

Omari looked down at the stony ground, considering this for a moment. Maybe she should let Hikaru take over for a while after this mission. Maybe it would really help her become herself again. "You could be right, Zamu...maybe I should do that...I'll talk to Hikaru about it later."

Zamu nodded. "Good."

Everybody jumped as they all sudden footsteps pitter-pattering against the floor. They were quick and hard, as if a quadruped made from wood was running across the floor.

"What was that?!" Kanaye said abruptly, standing up and whirling around in a full circle, almost bumping his head on the pole.

"H-Hello?" Omari quickly stood and turned to where the noise was coming from. The creature was approaching their hallway from the next hallway. If it reached the end and turned the corner, Omari and the others would be standing face-to-face to it.

"O-Omari...I don't feel so good about this..." Kanaye whispered, trying to back towards behind Omari, but Omari grabbed his arm and forced him to stay put.

The sound was getting closer as everybody stood, now shaking with anticipation or fright. It definatley wasn't human- or Cyclone. Omari hoped it was something that they could battle and kill. She had been itching for a fight all. Kanaye hoped it was friendly. And if it wasn't, then Kanaye's second hope was for the creature to not be larger than them in size. And Zamu, like every other second of his life, hoped nothing bad would happen.

Suddenly, a clean white bone unevenly rolled out of nowhere towards them. Omari drew a kunai, and Kanaye jumped back. Zamu held his breath as the large, unsymmetrical bone rolled all the way untill it tapped Omari's shoes. That was when Omari gulped and stepped back, although it was just an inanimate object that couldn't possibly do them any harm. The footsteps had stopped.

Omari just stared down at the bone, which was picked clean (wherever it cam from). She almost bent down to touch it or pick it up, but she knew better to give in to her inner curiosity (unlike Midori). "What...?"

Zamu shrugged. Kanaye whimpered.

A small, creaking sound came from around the corner. Something moved.

Omari cringed and prepared herself for any type of sound, any crash, any type of surprise. Anything. But reguardless of expecting the unexpected, she was scared. A chilled feeling washed across her bones and it made her shiver. She dreaded the feeling again. She dreaded being surprised, even though she knew she was going to be caught off guard of whatever was coming...

The feeling was so tense...her ears were buzzing and her stomach hurt so badly...

A huge, living skeleton of a beast popped out of nowhere and roared menacingly, making the dreaded, overwhelming feeling wash over Omari once again, making her shake so hard that her knees had buckled and she was on the floor. Kanaye screamed. Zamu cried out in surprise and jumped back from the now approaching dragon.

The skeleton's dragon's bones were a midnight black color and looked quite worn (unlike the bone from before), and had all types of seaweed, blood, and other debris hanging off of it's body. A pinkish, floating, heart-shaped form was in the center of the skeleton. It was glowing, yet looked broken and worn out as well. It was absolutley horrific. Omari had never felt so frightened in her life.

C'mon, Omari...get up...MOVE!! Omari screamed inside of her head while watching her legs violently shaking, refusing to move and face the huge monster that stood before her.

"OMARI!! What are you doing?! Get up, get up!" Zamu screeched as he rushed over and started to force her off of the ground. He was pulling on her right arm, only making Omari whimper louder than before...

"Omari! Omari!" Kanaye screamed in fright, worried that his leader would never get up ever again and would be left as the dragon's lunch.

Omari suddenly felt the dragon's empty eye sockets on her, and she twitched in fright. The dragon wanted something with her. She could feel it.

Zamu finally succeeded in pulling her off of the ground and placing her on her feet. Omari started to fall back down again, and Zamu smacked her in the head. "PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!!" He screeched, hitting her again. This only made Omari woozy.

Omari fell again, and this time, Zamu had let her fall down. There was no way he could get her up and make her protect herself in time. He would just have to stand in front of her and fend off the demonic beast without moving around much.

Zamu turned to Kanaye, who was still shaking with fright and not moving at all. He was standing in front of Omari's nearly unconscious body, even though he wasn't doing it to protect her. "Kanaye! You have to stand by me and protect Omari!"

Kanaye didn't move.

Zamu glared at him reguardless of the dragon that was now looking pretty steamed and got ready to leap out at them. "Get moving! Protect Omari! That's what teammates do, Kanaye! We're nothing without her!" He gasped as the dragon suddenly sprang from it's sitting position and lunged for Kanaye and Omari, it's mouth wide open.

"Look out!" Zamu screeched as he snatched Omari out of the way just in time and managed to shove Kanaye out of the way as well. The dragon slammed it's hard-looking head against the wall, shook itself off, and charged again.

This time, Kanaye was capable of action. He dodged out of the way and ran to the other side of the dragon to attract attention from it so Zamu could have more time to try and wake Omari up.

When Kanaye went to the other side of the dragon and clung to the tail, the dragon instantly cried out in surprise and started to turn away. Zamu placed Omari down on the ground, who had fainted right before Zamu had snatched her out of the way the first time the dragon had charged.

Zamu looked around wildly, trying to quickly think of a way to wake her up. He shook her vigorously, but tried not to do it too hard. He then slapped her smartly across the face, but that did not have any affect on her knocked-out form either.

"Please...please wake up..." Zamu was sobbing. He had no idea what to do now. It was only him and a small, inexperienced kid. "We need you..."

Meanwhile, Kanaye was desperatley trying to find some way to stun or hurt the dragon. He had taken out a kunai using one hand, still hanging onto the dragon with the other, and rubbed it against the dragon's tail quickly, trying to create friction so he could either set the dragon on fire or at least create a Fire Kunai.

Kanaye obviously didn't know that metal was not a very good conductor of heat. Neither were demon-dragon skeleton bones.

Zamu quickly glanced at what Kanaye was trying to do and groaned. He would have yelled at him, but was too busy trying to get Omari up.

"Omariiii!" Zamu screamed right into her ear, hitting her in the arm. "Wake...UP!"

"Mmm..." Omari whimpered, moving her head and arms all over the place like an excited baby. "Run...the dragon's coming, Zamu...get out..."

"Aaaaagh! C'mon, Omari! Just GET UP! You need to move!! Right now!" Zamu screamed again.

Kanaye was struggling to hang onto the writhing and convulsing dragon. The dragon was partially on the floor squirming and trying to knock Kanaye off of itself on the same time.

The dragon finally succeeded in bucking Kanaye off it it, and Kanaye flew about five feet upwards, then fell onto the hard ground with a muffled plop, motionless. This was either because he was knocked out or playing dead. Either way, the dragon left him alone and bounded towards Zamu and Omari.

Zamu quickly stood from his squatting position and whipped out a few shuriken. He quickly shot them at the skeleton dragon, aimed toward the glowing heart thing inside of it, but the shuriken merely bounced off of the dragon's tight rib cage. An expected result.

Zamu knew that he couldn't use any jutsus because the crossfire could hurt Omari. She was way too close, and so Zamu couldn't fight using ninjutsu or genjutsu. He couldn't risk hurting her.

The dragon roared in a monsterous, metallic voice, and charged at full speed. It roughly headbutted Zamu into a wall using all of it's strength, and Zamu struggled to keep awake. He saw all stars, and no Omari. Everything was going black...

Zamu fell to the ground right on his face, and forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his head, and still felt woozy from the unbelievably strong blow. He wildly looked around, and the next thing he knew, the skeletal dragon was bounding away with Omari in it's mouth.

"Heeeeey!" Zamu screamed. He then ran over to Kanaye, picked him up, put him over his back, and raced after the monster at the fastest rate he could manage without feeling like he was about to throw up. His head was spinning and he had a massive headache from the dragon headbutting him into the wall like that. He just couldn't let Omari be taken away by the demonic dragon, and yet a sad, crushed vibe rang through his heart, telling him that there was nothing he could do to save her...

Zamu knew that he was losing it. He was stumbling and hurting. Kanaye wasn't that heavy, but his weight on Zamu's back sure wasn't helping things...the dragon was running so fast that it made Zamu's head hurt even more. He was losing consciousness as he was running down that seemingly endless hallway to the unknown...

He was losing speed...

Just as soon as the dragon was out of Zamu's sight, the ground under him suddenly opened up. No thanks to gravity, Zamu and Kanaye were sucked inside of the hole (basically fell in) and screamed the entire ten feet to the ground.

Zamu groaned at the rough landing, but the hit they had taken had seemed to wake up both he and Kanaye. They both looked around and their new surroundings. A huge cage surrounded them. There was nothing they could do now to get Omari back. What was done was done. Game over.

Zamu was quite discouraged to see that Midori's group of teammates were entrapped in the cage as well. So were Tomozaku and Slicer.

Slicer sighed as he looked over at his best friend. He looked pretty beat up, too. "Hey, Zamu..."

Zamu just looked over at him sadly. "...Hi."

Masakaru uneasily waved over at Zamu from a corner, by a sign that labeled the number of the cage that they were all in. "Welcome to the wonderful world of Cage 1. So nice that you could drop in." He sneered grumpily.

Zamu sure hoped that Omari would be okay- that is, if she didn't get eaten already.

..._**A Few Hours Later, Back Into Cage 2...**_

Cyclone was still sitting on the outside of the cage, sighing every so often and glancing at Masami, who was sitting next to the still sleeping, shivering Hikaru.

Hikaru's occasional shiver made Cyclone shiver as well. This place was freezing. He really wanted to get out of here soon. And fast.

Cyclone turned to the Keeper, Masami, who had now curled up right next to Hikaru and just stared at his sleeping face sadly.

Masami then turned her head slightly and saw that Cyclone was staring at her in confusion. Cyclone cocked his head. "Okay, now this is just too weird. What's your deal?!"

Masami did not reply.

Cyclone blinked. "Do...do you know him from somewhere? I mean, you two look awfully alike..."

Tears instantly formed in Masami's eyes and she sniffled.

Cyclone looked alarmed and waved his hands. "Hey, hey, hey! I didn't mean to upset you! I-I'm sorry! I didn't know the topic itself would..." He stammered, not knowing what to do now.

Masami wiped the tears away. "N-No...it's okay. I'm the one who should be sorry..."

"Huh?" Cyclone was confused

Masami sat up and looked down. "You see...I know this may be a shock to you, but...I'm...well, I'm..." She stammered, choking on her own words.

Cyclone blinked. "What?"

"I...I'm Hikaru's mother."

"Wha-?! ...Heh. That's not possible. It can't be." Cyclone twitched and laughed uneasily, a strong, frightened shiver running down his little body. "You can't be Hikaru's mom. Hikaru's mom is dead...and...you don't look like him that much." His voice shook. He knew it was the truth, but...he just didn't want to believe it. Sure, Hikaru's family wasn't technically his family, but he was a part of Hikaru. It was unbelievable.

"I-...I'm sorry, but it's true." Masami said softly. "I...when I saw you and Hikaru...I...I just didn't know what to say..." She then removed her hat, which revealed three charms stuck closely together on her head. A moon, a star, and a spiraling sun.

Cyclone just stared, gaping at her. "You..."

"Please...please don't be mad at me," Masami begged in a gentle, shaky tone as she put the cap back on her head. "It's not what you think it is..." She said as Cyclone's appalled look turned into a hostile glare.

"YOU!!" Cyclone pointed menacingly at Masami, who had jumped back a bit. "You're Hikaru's MOTHER?! How DARE you!! You abandoned him and left him for the coyote's didn't you, you sick selfish rat! Why did you leave him out in the streets like that?! Why!??" He screamed, stepping towards her threateningly.

"I-I didn't!" Masami cried. "I...I really didn't. I swear to you. They-...they made me do it. They made me give up one of my children or else they'd kill me and the rest of my family, even though they already hated me and sent me here for having my children. The...the village didn't want to risk having-"

"I don't care!!" Cyclone screamed breathlessly. "Don't you understand?! Don't you understand the pain and suffering Hikaru was put through all of his life?! How painful it was to just assume that you weren't wanted by your own mom?!"

Masami just stared at him sadly, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I...I just don't know what to say to Hikaru..."

"You had better tell him!!" Cyclone screeched with anger. "You're GOING to tell him! You have to! He's your son, and you can't be afraid!"

Masami didn't reply.

Cyclone finally settled down a bit, plopped onto the ground, and sighed. This woman had some serious problems with communication. He gave her a sorrowful yet warning look. "Look...I know it hurts, but you have to tell Hikaru he's your son. He doesn't even know why he attacked you a few hours ago. He's gonna wake up as confused as ever, and you're the one who will have to do the explaining. Not me. If you don't, the next time Hikaru strikes out at you, don't come crying to me."

Masami stared at him for a few more seconds, seeming to think something over. She then sighed, as if she had to do something she didn't want to do. Her eyes suddenly widened at the sight of Cyclone. "Oh, my gosh!! Look at your ears!! Why...what's happening to them?!"

Cyclone shrieked without even glancing up at them. His precious ears! "Eeeeek! My ears!! My ears! What's wrong with them?! What do they look like?!" He screamed, running around in circles and holding them in his hands

"They...they look hideous! Come here!! I'd better take a look! Hurry!" Masami yelled briskly, motioning for Cyclone to come over to where she was. Meanwhile, she was pulling a long doctor's needle from her back pocket.

"Ahh! Nooo, my ears! Help me, Masami!!" Cyclone shrieked, rushing over to where Masami was impatiently waiting for him.

As soon as Cyclone got close enough, Masami grabbed him by the scruff of the neck with one hand, yanked him forward, held him firm, and quickly injected a special animal tranquilizer into his shoulder. "...There. That should hold you."

Cyclone immediatley stopped squirming. "Uuugh..." Cyclone moaned, feeling woozy all of a sudden. "You...uugh...you tricked me...you goon...nooo..." He flopped to the ground with another groan, and he instantly fell asleep, snoring lightly. He wouldn't wake up for at least two hours now.

Masami sighed. Doing things like these did not please her at all. Cyclone was a sweetheart, but she had to do what she had to do. She wanted to stay with Hikaru more than anything, or at least take him with her, but she knew she couldn't. Masami reached into her front pocket and pulled out the long chain of keys. She went over to the cage bars, unlocked the lock with the correct key, then walked out.

Masami turned to take one last look at her unconscious son and the tranquilized young shadow slave before she returned to work. She knew she would see them again, but had to deal with the other intruders first, along with many other Keepers. Masami shut the cage door softly, locked the door, and slowly walked away.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

Tarina walked through the hallways of Avalanche Temple with ease, just looking around and pacing herself. This place wasn't confusing nor strange, considering that she had been in it dozens of times and knew every hallway inside and out.

She wondered where the others were. She sensed that most of them were underground, which meant the basement. They probably were trapped. Idiots.

Tarina wondered if Nuboru still worked here. She sure hoped not. She wondered if Masatoshi still worked here. She really hoped not.

And Masami...

Tarina swallowed. She tried not to think about her mother. If she thought too much, then she would get riled up and her charm could start to attract the Sunrise Demon's attention and power. Tarina had to be careful around here, otherwise she could be reposessed by the currently dormant Sunrise Demon.

She shuddered, trying very hard to keep the dirty thoughts away from her. It was very hard not to think gory thoughts about what she wanted done with some of her worst enemies, especially in a place where her mind could set fire due to the demon's presence.

I hope Masami's dead... Tarina couldn't help thinking, her eye twitching. If she's not dead, I'll just have to finish her off myself. And if she even thinks about going near Hikaru, then she'll get it ten times as hard...

Tarina almost laughed. This was her own mother she was referring to. It didn't seem right at all. Then, more bad thoughts crossed her mind, causing a flicker of a bloodthirsty smile to appear on her face. "Heh..."

And what about Hirokazu...? That little punk. I hate him so much...he's such a coward. I wish I could just rip his stomach open, let all of his guts spill out and watch him scream...

I'd like to do the same with Katsumi...she's not as bad, but still...it'd be kinda fun to...

"No, no, no! Stay sane!!" Tarina hissed to herself, smacking her own forehead, which interrupted her gory visions (although she was starting to enjoy them). She was starting to become literally bloodthirsty like she had been so long ago, and she had to resist the urge to release her long lost fangs and pounce on something. This made her charm area hurt and give off a warning shiver, but she had to keep herself under control. She had to focus on finding Hikaru, Omari and the others before Nuboru and the Keepers killed them all off.

Omari and Hikaru were especially in danger because of their wanted powers. Tarina also sensed that Kamichi was in the building along with some friends. Kamichi's power was probably wanted as an extra resource for Nuboru, too. She had to hurry.

Tarina jogged down the largest hallway of the temple, and stopped midway. She looked down and saw a few suspicious-looking peices of stone. They looked fixed. The sensing of friends nearby was getting stronger...

"Heh...I almost forgot..." Tarina smiled to herself. "This trap in particular leads to the basement. They must all be in there."

Tarina considered going down the stairs to the basement (the RIGHT way), but she probably couldn't do it without being caught by Nuboru and his troop. Besides, the Skull Dragon could be spying on her right now. Sure, the Skull Dragon was one hundred percent herbivore, but it could still leave a nasty bite and tattle to Nuboru about her whereabouts. It was probably best to go down and try to break her friends out.

She knew that Omari and Hikaru were not down there. Tarina couldn't sense their energy. They must have been either running around somewhere else in the temple, or captured in another place.

Omari and Hikaru could take care of theirselves to some extent. She would have to worry about them later.

Tarina gently put her right foot onto the trap's platform. It quickly opened up, leading to the already occupied cage below. Tarina jumped inside of it and smoothly landed on the stony ground of the freezing basement.

Everybody occupying the cage turned and gasped in shock. Normally, one would call Tarina stupid for purposely locking herself up inside of the same cage as just about everybody else. But, how else could she speak to them without getting caught? They needed Tarina to help manually bust themselves out.

"Whazzup, you guys?" Tarina flashed them an innocent smile.

"Tarina?!" Zamu cried. "Wh-Where...how...?! Why are you..."

Tarina looked blank. "I just figured you guys might need some assistance on this mission, that's all. The Avalanche Temple is one tough place. I just decided to drop in and see if you guys needed any help."

"Well, of course we need help!!" Slicer said. "We're TRAPPED! You can start by getting us outta here!!"

Tarina laughed. "Don't be silly! I can't bust all of us out of here! It's impossible!"

"WHAT?!" Everybody screamed.

Tarina smiled and sat down comfortably on the hard floor, legs crossed. "I only came down here to help you. We all have to work together to bust out of here. You know that."

"Can't you just use your Supernova Laserbeam?" Zamu asked.

Tarina gave him a funny look. "No. That would use up all of my energy. Besides, it wouldn't work. I would need to use Ultra Supernova Laserbeam to break through the cage, but I can't use that jutsu while I'm in my normal ghost state. Using that jutsu could also put all of you in danger. We have to find another way."

Suddenly, Midori rushed up to where Tarina was and plopped down right in front of her with an excited blush on her face. "  
"Ohmygosh!! HI!!" Midori cooed, waving excitedly.

Tarina raised an eyebrow at the jumpy girl. She raised her hand a little and waved slowly. "Uh...hi."

"Hi!!"

Tarina blinked and seemed confused. Nobody had ever really approached her in such a manner.

"I'm Midori!!"

Tarina looked creeped out. "Uh...okay. I'm Tarina. It's uh, n-nice to meet you..."

"It's nice meeting you, too!!! I'm like, your number one fan!" Midori squealed breathlessly. "You're SO awesome! I can't believe I'm meeting you in person!! I can't even believe I'm meeting a real ghost in person!!" She babbled, temporarily forgetting about her slime problem (which Zamu had ended up having no idea how to fix it).

Tarina just stared at her for a few moments, frozen. "Uh...are you okay?"

Midori nodded vigorously.

Tarina wrinkled her eyebrows, not knowing what to say to the young and bouncy girl that she had never seen before. "Uuuh..."

Midori just stared at her, beaming, and Tarina looked away for a second, hoping that Midori would just leave her alone. This was embarassing in a way in which Tarina was absolutley speechless. She really didn't know what to say, and that made her feel funny.

Tarina scratched her head. "Uuum...can I...do something for you? You seem kind of..."

"Oh, no, thanks! I'm just excited to see you, that's all!" Midori cooed.

Tarina just looked at her.

Midori then looked down and twiddled her thumbs. Maybe, just maybe, Tarina could help her with her problem. She was one of the strongest rogue ninja alive. She might as well try. "Uh...Tarina..."

"Hmm?"

Midori sighed sadly. "I...I know you don't know me very well, but...you think maybe you could help me with a problem I've got?"

Tarina raised her eyebrows.

Midori looked away. This would make her sound so stupid. "Well...you see...I was poking at this glowing red goo on a wall, and...Masakaru told me to leave it alone, but...I didn't listen. And then it started growing, and it forced itself into my mouth."

Tarina nodded as she listened.

"After I was forced to swallow, all of my spit's turned to goop. And it isn't the least bit fun!" Midori said in an upset tone.

Tarina frowned. She obviously didn't get it. "Uuh..."

"Watch!" Midori said, and then she turned away and spit onto the ground. The saliva had turned into goo so fast, that it would have seemed that the goo had come out of her mouth in the first place instead of spit.

Tarina looked confused as she stared at the thick, green spittle. "That's funny. I ate that stuff a long time ago, and it sure didn't happen to me."

"Huh?!" Midori looked even more upset. "B-But...how can that be possible?"

"Hmm...weird." Tarina stood and paced the room thoughtfully for a few moments. Everybody, including Midori, watched her (either because they had nothing better to do or because they were really interested in what Tarina was going to say). She then stopped and turned to look at Midori. "You have any special abilities?"

Midori shook her head.

"Yes, you do," Masakaru said. "Your insides are mainly made out of a green radioactive substance. The rest is just blood stored in your vital spots. You have the power over all Radioactive Sheilds. You're one of the only shinobi who's body build is like that."

"But...it's not that special!" Midori exclaimed. "I never thought of it as a 'special ability'."

Tarina laughed uneasily. "That's definatley a special ability reguardless of what you think of it. I mean, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I do know that the slime in this temple corresponds to the material in your body. Hm...and from the looks of it, the material in your body seems very much like a mixture of nitrobenzene and free chakra. I get it now."

"Get what?!"

Tarina returned to where Midori was sitting. "The difference in the red goo somehow triggered the toxic stuff in your body to overreact and come out in whatever opening is best. In this case, it's your mouth. Your chakra points are just a little overactive, that's all. I can fix that. Otherwise, you should be happy. Your abilities have just been upgraded."

"How?" Midori asked skeptically.

"If I could get your body under control by ripping open the stream that goes to your mouth, then the goo would come out of your mouth on free will. You could shoot streams of it out of your mouth whenever you want." Tarina said.

Midori had always been able to cover her whole body with the goo, but never shoot streams out of her mouth. The new ability to being able to cover her mouth with goo seemed pretty cool, but...she didn't like the way Tarina had said 'ripping' when referring to how she could fix her problem.

"Uuh..." Midori twitched with nervousness. "Exactly how are we going to do this 'fixing' of my goo problem?"

"Easily."

"Will it hurt?" Midori asked.

Tarina smirked. "Mmmmayyybe."

Midori cried out in fright, stood, and took a tiny step back. All attention was on the two of them now. "Uuhhh..."

Tarina stood, too, giggling. "I was kidding! It's not going to hurt, Midori. And even if you did find it painful, it'll be over in a second."

Midori shot her a wary look. "First, I want to know what you're going to do to me. Specifically."

Tarina looked aggravated. "Do I really have to tell you?"

"Yes!!"

Tarina sighed again. "Alright...I'm going to puncture of of your chakra points with a sharp object. The easiest spot to do this will be on your shoulder. It'll be just like a normal shot at the doctors. A quick pinch, and then it's over."

Midori seemed to look satisfied. She had never had a shot since she was very little, but she had been hit with senbon a few times before. This wasn't going to be so bad. "Okay!"

"But!" Tarina put a hand up. "There's a price."

Midori looked worried all of a sudden. "Oh, no! I...I don't have any money with me!"

"I know," Tarina said. "I don't want money. I want you to share your ability with me."

"Huh?"

"I want your ability. It's that simple." Tarina shrugged. "I wont have the all-over radioactive power, but I will at least have the ability to spit goo like you will soon. Of course, this wont change the plan for fixing you and it wont hurt you any more than it is going to now. Both jobs will be done all in one move. I'll fix you, and you share your ability with me. Is that a deal?"

Midori felt relieved. She was very lucky to have a shinobi like Tarina around. Tarina was so nice. "Sure."

Tarina suddenly approached Midori and roughly pinned her to the ground. "Okay, this will only take a few seconds. Normally, I don't have fangs and I would do this with a senbon, but you agreed to give me part of your ability. This may seem really gross and freaky, but I promise I wont hurt you. Just hold still so I don't end up ripping your skin too much." Tarina said, assuring the now wide-eyed Midori that everything was going to be okay.

Finally, the Sunrise Demon's close presence came in handy for once.

"Woah, woah, wooooah!!" Midori cried, starting to squirm away from her. "F-Fangs?! You're going to b-bite me?! With fangs?!"

Tarina looked even more aggravated as Midori succeeded in squirming away from her and backing away. "No, I'm going to tickle y- of course I'm going to bite you!! What did you think I would do?! It's the only way to share the ability!!" Tarina said.

"Oh, gawd!" Midori screamed in disgust, putting her hand to her mouth. "No WAY! I can't! That's just too weird! I-I don't do cannibalism, Tarina!"

"It's not cannabalism! Do you want to stop drooling goo or not?!"

"I think I'd rather stick with what I have now, thank you very much!" Midori said.

"Midori, just let her do it!" Masakaru cried. "Tarina's only trying to help you!!"

"No!"

"Midori, you don't understand! If you don't let me stop the constant flow, your chakra points could override themselves and eventually burst from exaustion! You could die!!" Tarina said.

"I'm not going to let you bite me!! It's disgusting and WEIRD, and it would feel so...eeeww!"

"Come on! It's only your shoulder, and it's not like I'm a vampire or anything! You're acting like I'm trying to eat you or something!! I'm trying to save your neck! We had a deal. Besides, doing it with a senbon will take too long!!" Tarina argued.

"You just said it would be just as short with a senbon!! I don't wanna do it anymore, Tarina!! Waaaahh!!" Midori started to wail like a small child who was screaming for a treat in a store.

"Uuugh! Come here!!" Tarina lunged for Midori and tackled her to the ground. Midori breathlessly begged for Tarina to let go of her and squirmed, but Tarina would have none of it.

"No! No, Tarina! Stop! It'll huuuurt!" Midori shrieked.

"Just...hold...still!!" Tarina growled as she held her to the ground and pulled Midori's shirt collar down. Tarina's eyes went red and everyone flinched as she slowly and painfully sunk her short, newly popped out fangs into Midori's upper shoulder, causing Midori to scream out in surprise and horror.

"Oooowww! Stop! Stoooop!" Midori pleaded desperatley, tears streaming down her face. "You're gonna suck out all of my blooooood! Let gooo! Please, Tarina, I'm serious!! It huuuurts!" She screamed, even though Tarina wasn't even attempting to suck any blood from her.

Tarina firmly held her fangs in Midori's skin for about seven long seconds while poor Midori sobbed in agony. Tarina finally yanked herself out and pulled back with blood and goo all over her mouth. Seconds later, her fangs retreated. Tarina then coughed and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her black and red robe. "Uugh...yuck." She grimaced.

Midori fell to the ground as Tarina pushed her away, clutching her lightly wounded shoulder, still crying and writhing. "Waah-haah!"

Everybody else shuddered.

Tarina sat up from the ground and glared at Midori, who was still acting like she was still being bitten. "Alright, kid. You can stop screaming now. It's over. I know it stung a little, but you'll be okay. I promise. You're cured, and both of us have got a new ability. Everybody wins."

Midori sat up, hugging herself and breathing shakily. It was obvious that she was still in awe from the distrubing experience.

Tarina then decided to test out her new ability to see if it worked correctly. She focused on the new goo-based flow mixed in within her chakra, and suddenly, a short yet powerful stream of green goo came shooting from her mouth. It burned the ground that she had spit it upon. Tarina smiled to herself. "Perfect. My ability to do this is only temporary, but luckily, Midori gets keep the ability forever."

"T-Temporary?!" Midori looked nervous again. "I...but you..."

Tarina sighed. "Don't worry, Midori...I'm never going to do that to you again. ...That is, unless I feel like it..." She suddenly whipped around to glare and smirk evilly over at Midori.

Midori cried out, shaking in fear. Tarina just sneered, didn't even bother to explain to Midori that it was just another little joke, and turned back to the rest of the large group.

"Heh...wow, Tarina..." Slicer said uneasily, involuntarily putting his right hand up to touch his shoulder. Obviously, the experience for Midori didn't appear comfortable to him. "I-I didn't know you still had your fangs..."

"I usually don't," Tarina admitted. "But, since this is the Land of Exiles and the Sunrise Demon's spirit is trapped here, I get some of my old powers back."

"The Sunrise Demon?! Land of Exiles?! You kiddin' me?!" Masakaru cried in shock.

"Told yaaaa!" Ryo sneered over at him.

Masakaru sighed.

"You guys didn't know that?" Tarina asked Zamu and Slicer.

Both shook their heads.

Tarina sighed as she pulled the still shaky Midori towards her and roughly mussed her hair. "Geez. You guys just came here with no map and no knowledge of this place at all and planned to find the Rainbow Boulder in one night? Pity."

"I know..." Zamu sighed. He just remembered that Omari was still out there. She had been captured by that hideous, hideous Skull Dragon. He wondered how Tarina would react to this. "Uh...Tarina...about Omari..." Zamu looked down.

Tarina let go of Midori. "Yeah, I know. The dragon took her, didn't he? The Skull Dragon?"

Zamu raised an eyebrow, surprised that Tarina still had the ability to sense the whereabouts of her closest friends after all of these months of being separated. Tarina was about twenty five years old now, yet still hadn't changed a bit.  
"Uh...yeah..."

Tarina sighed. "Yeah...Nuboru's the boss of this place. He probably sent the dragon for her. They're going to tear off her barbels and suck all of her chakra away in a matter of just a few days. The same with Hikaru. If they open the Mindight Demon's cham ber, take off Hikaru's charm and shove him in there...all will be lost. We have to find a way to get out of here, or at least send three or four out of here to get each person."

"I...I don't think we can go through that again..." Slicer said guiltily. "We've already tried mixed teams, and they didn't work out at all. We can't even work together well if we're in our original squads"  
"Then we'll make two good squads who can get along without any distractions." Tarina replied smoothly.

Everyone exchanged worried looks.

"Well, you are the leader..." Zamu said nervously. "If you think that's what is best for our team, then that's what's best for our team..."

"Yeah..." The rest of the large group replied mirthlessly.

Tarina smiled and drew her knees to her chest. "Oh, come on! Cheer up, you guys! Omari and Hikaru will be fine! We'll just have to find a way to work together, that's all. I'll pick two teams to go, and a team to stay here. And the teams we pick will have to be agreed on. Okay?"

Everyone either mumbled their 'yes'es and 'sure's, or nodded just meekly. Tarina put her hand on her forehead. "Uuugh...where did all of our team spirit go? Come on. We'll never get this done unless we start thinking realistic. And I didn't mean positive or overly negative. Realistic. Here's an example: We'll get the job done, and we'll get it done right, but we wont get out of here without a fight. ...And for the record, that wasn't supossed to rhyme."

"Realistic. Riiiiight." Slicer took off his bandanna and scratched his head. "So, uh, Tarina...when exactly are we going through with this new plan of yours?"

Tarina checked her watch. "Hmm...well, it's almost eight now. We'll start at two in the morning...yup! Two will be just peachy!"

The younger kids groaned loudly.

"What?" Tarina looked around with a confused look on her face. "I thought kids loved to stay up late and bounce off of the walls!"

They just groaned even louder.

Tarina sighed and smiled to herself.

Midori looked up at Tarina from her low-kneeling postition and spoke in a low voice. "...Tarina? I-I don't think I'm really cut out for all of this. I mean...I messed up numerous times already. I don't think I'll ever make a good leader..."

Tarina raised her eyebrows. "Wait, you're really the leader of your squad?"

Midori sniffled and nodded.

"Cool!" Tarina beamed. "So, you already have experience as a leader. It's just what we need. You just need to learn how to use the experience. You didn't mess up. You're teammates are all alive today, aren't they?"

"Yeah...?" Midori said.

"Well, then you're doing fine for a beginner!" Tarina shrugged. "Keeping your teammates safe is the number one rule of being a good leader. You just need work on your priorities, that's all!"

Midori looked down. "I don't know, Tarina...you seem to know alot more than I do. I-I make too many stupid mistakes. I wont have a chance..."

Tarina hugged her. "Come on! You'll make a great leader someday. I know you're strong! Like I said, you just have to set your priorities straight and you'll be good. Just take one step at a time, Midori. I'll help you. Everything will work out okay. I promise."

_**...Back In Cage 2, Around 10:00 PM...**_

"Uuugh..." Cyclone moaned sleepily, his eyes starting to flutter open. "I feel yucky...what time is it? H-How long have I been sleeping?" He wondered aloud.

Cyclone then gasped and quickly sat up as he remembered how the Keeper Masami had decieved him into being knocked out after Cyclone found out that Masami was Hikaru's mother. She must have used the key to get out while both Cyclone and Hikaru were asleep. "Uugh...that stupid lady...how dare she trick me like that..."

Cyclone looked wildly around the cage. No Masami. Hikaru was sitting down by the cage bars, sighing. He had put his bandanna back on and looked very perplexed and upset.

Cyclone shakily stood. His knees felt a little numb and wobbly, but he was able to move them. He walked over to where Hikaru was and crawled onto his lap. "Hey..."

"Hey..." Hikaru replied gloomily.

"What's wrong?"

"That woman..." Hikaru whispered. "Who was she? I felt her...I felt her in my dreams...she seemed so familiar and warm yet so hateful. I...I don't know what to think. When I had attacked her, I-I had the same feeling when I first looked at this temple. I felt that there was a missing peice of me. I mean, part of that missing peice is filled in, but...there's still something else..."

"How long have you been awake?" Cyclone asked, quickly changing the subject. If he caved and told Hikaru who Masami really was, then he was afraid that Hikaru would go all crazy again.

Hikaru shrugged. "Eh...about an hour. You were sleeping, and I was real confused. Why?"

Cyclone started to pout at the memory of the great deception. "That crazy lady tricked me into thinking that something was wrong with my ear. Then, when I came close enough, she stabbed me in the back with a tranquilizer needle so she could have time to get far away from here! Masami's her name."

Hikaru snorted. "I'm not surprised."

"Yeah...the Keepers around here are weird...but you have ta' admit that they're smart." Cyclone said.

"Mm." Hikaru merely nodded, then gently pushed Cyclone off of his lap, stood, and stretched.

"Now what?" Cyclone asked.

When Hikaru spoke again, he sounded more like himself. Motivated and ready for action once more. "Okay, Cyclone. We're gonna get outta here. But you're getting out first."

"Huh?" Cyclone was befuddled.

"While you were sleeping, Cyclone, I determined if your body was small enough to fit through the bars which are dented from me pulling the Keeper in here. After the Keeper left, though, I saw that someone had partially bent the bars back together while we were sleeping. They're still a little dented, so maybe you can fit through." Hikaru explained in a whisper, in case anybody was spying on them.

"Yeah, so?" Cyclone put his hands on his hips. "What if I can get through?"

"After you get out, you would then use the Transformation Jutsu and disguise yourself as a human being with a black robe on and a set of keys hanging out of your pocket. You'll look just like a Keeper!" Hikaru said.

"Soooo...?"

"You can sneak into the bosses' office, which I'm pretty sure is downstairs, and nab the real keys inside of another Keeper's pocket!" Hikaru said excitedly.

Cyclone looked confused again. "How will we know which key is the right one for this particular cage? There's like, hundreds of them."

Hikaru sighed impatiently. "We'll figure it out when we get there, Cyclone! Now, what do you think of the plan?"

"I think you're crazy. I don't want to turn into a human! Humans are yucky! They have to go to the bathroom more than once a day and eat alot! It's annoying! I would never want to be one of you guys." Cyclone said.

"C'mon, Cyclone!" Hikaru pleaded. "It'll only be for a little while. You just have to get out of the cage, try to look out for traps and find the pink-marked pole, and the stairs should be close by. I'm sure the others have already moved on from the pole because it's so late, so you wouldn't expect to see anyone there. Anyway, you would just go down the stairs, get the keys, and come back here to unlock me. Mark your trail so you know how to get back. It's not hard!"

Cyclone considered this for a moment. Hikaru was his best friend...and he had never disguised himself as a human before. How bad could it be?

"Please, Cyclone?! This could be our only chance! We don't know when Masami or another Keeper will come back! We don't know when our expiration date for them is! It's best to do what we can now. What do you say?"

Cyclone sighed. "...Fine."

"Alright!" Hikaru nodded, slightly pleased. He then gently picked up Cyclone and placed him near the less-tighter, dented bars of the cage. Cyclone just stared at it for a moment, seeing if he could get through it or not. Cyclone pressed his body against the bars and tried to squeeze through. It was almost an easy slide. He would need a good push to get out.

"Help me," Cyclone slightly turned to look at Hikaru.

"Okay..." Hikaru approached where Cyclone was standing and kneeled. "Uuuurggh!" He said as he shoved Cyclone ahead, making him burst from the cage and topple upon free, uncaged grounds.

"You're free!" Hikaru smiled lightly and gave Cyclone the thumbs-up as soon as Cyclone shook himself off and turned to face his master.

"Yeah..." Cyclone said. "The tranquilizer makes me feel a little funny still, but I think I'll be okay."

"Alright, now go ahead use your Transformation Justu to appear as a human. And don't use anything related to my own appearnace, or else the Keepers'll get suspicious and probably arrest you." Hikaru said.

"What human sould I turn into?"

Hikaru sighed. "J-Just pick any random dude! Just don't pick any person that already exists or may be here. You draw humans all of the time in your notebooks! Pick one of those guys from your books and be done with it!"

Cyclone blushed. "I-I don't want to do it in front of you..." He said meekly, obviously shy of whatever was going to come out of his Transformation Justu.

"You've never turned into a human?! I find that hard to believe!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Okay, okay!" Cyclone admitted. "I've turned into a human once or twice just to see what I'd look like. But I never used it on a mission or for disguise! It may not look good, so...can't I just do it while I'm walking away from you?"

"No!" Hikaru glared at him. "I have to judge you! What if yours ends up being too young or old or distorted and I'm not there to point it out, huh?! What if you're not creative or distinctive enough?! I'm sure there's many ways you can mess up and get arrested here, Cyclone! You've gotta show me what you'd look like as a human!"

Cyclone was about to give in, but then glared back as he realized something. "Heey! Why can't you do this?! Why can't you turn into a mouse or something and crawl out?"

"Because, Cyclone! I'm all out of chakra!" Hikaru growled. "Now SHOW ME!!"

"Fine, whatever..." Cyclone sighed as he reluctantly put his hands together in a sign. "Transform!"

A loud, dark puff of smoke went off as soon as Cyclone had chanted the jutsu. Cyclone dreaded the moment of judgement, but Hikaru seemed excited.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Hikaru observed Cyclone's young human form for a moment before smiling. "Perfect. Absolutley perfect."

_**...A Half Hour Later, In Another Section Of The Temple...**_

Kamichi, Kouki, and Kiroku walked on together throughout the entire first floor of the temple, just barely avoiding traps and getting chased by a few hideous bests here and there. They hadn't run into any Keepers or anything, so they didn't even know what the people around here looked like. To Kamichi, this was just boring.

The dragons and monsters that had charged at the team were indestructable. Immortal. There was no way Kamichi could lay a scratch on one of those things. The only option he had was to run. He hated running. It was something he had been doing for his whole life now.

He wanted a real fight. A real challenge.

Kamichi sighed as he trudged on ahead, with his teammates and best friends following closely behind. He didn't even know where the exit was to a place like this. It was so annoying, it was pathetic.

He needed out so badly...he thought he was going to faint or scream out in aggravation again...

"Hey, look, Kamichi!" Kouki cried out suddenly, pointing. "There's the door we came in this morning!"

Kamichi turned to look at the open archway to the great outdoors. He instantly wanted to run outside and embrace the real world. He wanted to get away from this dreary, freezing-cold, creepy building. Even though it made him seem like a chicken, he needed to get out of here more than anything. Maybe, if his teammates agreed to leave with him...

"Hey, Kamichi. I'm getting tired. You want to just quit on this mission?" Kiroku said lazily, stretching and yawning. "It's getting really late already. We can just tell the boss that we got bored of searching. Sure, we wont get paid for this time, but there's always next time, right?"

"Yeah..." Kouki said tiredly. "We haven't seen a hint of battle all day. Now that we've finally found the door again, maybe we should just leave..."

"Well, if you guys feel that we should leave, then I guess we could leave," Kamichi said, trying to sound as if he was completley up for staying in the Avalanche Temple for a few more hours. "It is pretty late, anyway." He said. Bailing on the mission seemed sort of stupid, but Kamichi had his limits, and one of those most important limits was called curfew.

Suddenly, a few quick and loud footsteps coming from the previous hallway struck Kamichi's ears and he instantly perked up. Those were human footsteps. "H-Hey! You guys! Here that?! Somebody's coming!"

"Huh?! Really?!" Kiroki said in an almost excited tone. Usually, when a potential enemy came along, a shinobi supossed to be alert and serious, but after over six hours of walking aimlessly around an old temple, it was different.

"Yeah..." Kouki drew her Void Kunai. "I hear it, too...it could be one of those Keepers that I hear live around here..."

The quick-sounding footsteps had finally approached their area. Kamichi whirled around to see a small boy, who was about nine years old, running around and oberving each support beam/pole he passed. The dude didn't even notice Kamichi and his friends.

"Hey! I found it!" The little boy exclaimed excitedly to himself as he pointed at one of the poles.

The little boy's voice struck a weird, unknown nerve in Kamichi's body that made him cringe with hatred and annoyance. The kid sounded unusually familiar, and Kamichi didn't like it one bit. But...what could you do? The kid couldn't help his voice.

"Hey, you guys..." Kouki whispered to Kiroki and Kamichi. "This kid doesn't seem to care that we're here, so...maybe we should go talk to him. Ask him questions about the Rainbow Boulder. He seems pretty harmless."

"And if he is an enemy, what's the worst he could do?" Kiroki snickered. "That's a pretty puny little kid, after all."

Kamichi sighed. A few more minutes couldn't hurt. Besides, this was the first person they had actually encountered. This could be interesting. "Alright. We'll go talk to him, but...I'll go first. Just in case he ends up being some monster in disguise or somethin'."

Kiroki and Kouki nodded as Kamichi casually shuffled ahead towards the boy, partially because he was tired, and partially because he really didn't have much faith and excitement in talking to some nine-year-old.

Before Kamichi could say anything, the boy turned around with a pleasant, friendly smile on his face. "Hi!"

Kamichi just blinked. "Uuh...hi."

The kid certainly did not look as familiar as he sounded. He wore a black-and-red robe, with black sweatpants underneath. He had strange, yellowish eyes that seemed to glow. His dark brown hair was pretty neat, and almost shoulder-length. He had a nice smile, but it was quaint. Weird. He was good-looking for a eight-to-nine year old kid, but seemed a little too dainty. This boy reminded Kamichi of some sort of cute, friendly pet.

The kid just stared at him, beaming politley.

"Uh...so...what's your name?" Kamichi asked, scratching his head.

"Most people call me Cyclone." The kid said. He then turned to look at Kiroku and Kouki as well as Kamichi. "What're all of your names?"

"Oh, uh..." Kamichi shakily smiled back. "This is Kouki, this is Kiroku, and I'm Kamichi." He said, guesturing to both of his teammates and himself.

The kid Cyclone twitched at Kamichi's name. It was sort of like a half-second grimace, like the kid had just remembered something that upsetted him or made him angry.

Kamichi decided not to bother with it. If Cyclone had a problem with Kamichi, it was his problem and his problem only. Besides, the kid was a weirdy, anyway. Who cared about what he thought? Kamichi didn't know what to say after this. "Uuh...so...where are you headed to?"

"I'm off to, uh, find the Rainbow Boulder!" Cyclone said. Now it was Kamichi's turn to flinch. That was his mission, and the tone Cyclone had used sounded totally fake and high-pitched. Cyclone's choice of words was also weird, making Cyclone uncomfortably familiar to Kamichi...that accent...

Uugh...little weirdo! What's his problem, and who does he think he is having the same mission goal as me?! Kamichi growled inside of his head. He then shook himself out of his accusing thoughts and continued the conversation towards the little awkward boy. "So, uh...why were you looking at the poles like that? I mean, what were you just looking for?" He asked, trying to sound wary to let Cyclone know he had better watch out.

"Oh!" Cyclone stepped aside for Kamichi to see. He pointed at the pink bandanna and frowned. "This is what I was looking for. It's where my teammates were supossed to meet up, but, uh...I guess that didn't work out so well."

Kamichi's eyes widened as he looked at the pink Kingpin Kunais bandanna. Uuugh. Hikaru. Omari. Zamu. Slicer. Them.

For a split second, Kamichi had a slight suspicion that this kid named Cyclone was Hikaru in disguise, but no. Cyclone's behavior was way too tolerant and weird for Hikaru. Even though the voices were similar, it couldn't be. Cyclone was probably just a friend or something.

Kamichi twitched again. He saw a nervous, furtive glance from Kouki and sighed. It was best not to lose his cool, even though this kid was from the Kingpin Kunais squad and was after the Rainbow Boulder as well as himself.

Ahhh! Who am I kidding?! This little jerk's after the boulder, and I bet Hikaru's here with him!! Kamichi suddenly glared and advanced towards the kid, who looked worried and took a tiny step back. He was about to lose his cool all right.

"Uuuh...is there like...a problem between you and me?" Cyclone asked nervously.

"You can't have the Rainbow Boulder..." Kamichi growled, taking yet another step towards the frightened little boy. The memory of the Kingpin Kunais was just too overwhelming to be tolerated. Something had to be done. The anger and guilt and memories were flowing into his bloodstream so rapidly, so uncontrollably...

"Uuuuh...uhh..." Cyclone twitched.

Kamichi hit him. Just a sharp smack in the little kid's nose, just out of impulse. Just for the fun of it. Just because this kid Cyclone knew the Kingpin Kunais and because they were here. It was just because he felt like it.

"Oww!" Cyclone stumbled backwards, clutching his now pink nose. He sniffled. "Wha...wha'd you do that for?"

Kamichi twitched, Kouki looked uncertain, and Kiroku just looked all over the place, confused. Kamichi shot Kouki a look that practically screamed, what now?!

They couldn't let Cyclone get near the Rainbow Boulder. They just couldn't. Especially because he was teamed up with the Kingpin Kunais squad. Something had to be done about this. It had to be stopped right away.

Kamichi glowered at the kid and got ready to hit him again. Cyclone flinched. "Listen, kid. You're coming with us." He suddenly made a grab for Cyclone and caught his wrist.

"N-No!" Cyclone stammered, frightened.

"Yes!"

"Noooo!" Cyclone yelped, thrashing wildly all over the place. Kouki and Kiroku then surrounded Cyclone so he wouldn't get away from them.

"We're sorry," Kouki said, "but we're not exactly friends with the Kingpin Kunais. We can't let them have the Rainbow Boulder because we need it more. And if we're gonna stop them from doing that, then you're gonna have to be the first to be eliminated from the competition." She said as Kamichi silently started dragging him in the other direction to tie him up somewhere.

"Huh?! N-No! I can't go with you! My friend is trapped in a cage, and I have to set him free so we can find the Rainbow Boulder together and get the others!" Cyclone protested, dragging his feet against the floor.

Kamichi suddenly stopped pulling. He whipped around, his eyes full of hostility. "What friend?"

Cyclone quivered. "Uuuh...I..."

"Tell me who it is!" Kamichi demanded. "Who are you trying to set free?"

Cyclone did not respond. He knew who Kamichi was and what rivalry he used to have with Hikaru. He wouldn't talk.

"Tell me!!" Kamichi suddenly let go of Cyclone's wrist and punched him in the head with all of his might.

Cyclone was sent flying into the nearby wall, his head spinning after his whole body crashing right into it. His false human body instantly switched back to his original shadow slave form. He moaned as Kamichi stepped over to him, now with a small, electrically-charged whip in his hand.

"So! You weren't a real human being, after all." Kamichi smirked evilly. "And you know what? You look awfully familiar."

"Wh-What do you mean?" Cyclone stammered, standing up and backing into a corner as Kamichi stepped closer to him.

"You look like those hideous carnivorous jerks that almost killed me when I was eleven years old." Kamichi said in a creepily calm voice.

Cyclone flinched. "B-But...I certainly wasn't one of them! I-I was too little to be there!"

Kamichi ignored him. "Just tell me who and where you're trying to set free!!" He said, raising the whip in the air high before Cyclone.

"No!" Cyclone screamed with finality.

"Uugh!" Kamichi's electric whip suddenly came crashing down on poor Cyclone's upper chest, close to his throat.

A huge gash was left by the cruel blow, and Cyclone cried out and squirmed in agony as dark red, blood-like substance came spurting out of him. Kamichi didn't even seemed to be bothered by the suffering of this poor little creature. He merely sneered.

"Oooow! T-That hurt!!" Cyclone squealed, clutching his throbbing chest and falling to the ground.

"Whatch'a gonna do about it, pipsqueak?" Kamichi cackled, bending down and squatting in front of him.

"Aaargh!! You GOON!" Cyclone shrieked in fury, enraged that there was no way he could protect himself or get away with hitting Kamichi now that he was cornered by three medium-sized humans with weapons.

"...Goon?" Kamichi pretended to look surprised, and then thoughtful. "Hmm. Now, where have I heard this before?" He tapped his chin, and then looked back at Cyclone in 'sudden' relization. "Ah! I know!"

Cyclone didn't respond. He only stared nervously at the charged whip, sparking with bright blue volts. He wondered where such a small boy like Kamichi had ever managed to obtain such a disgusting, high-tech weapon.

"Ooh. I get it now." Kamichi grinned. "You must be after your old buddy Hikaru, aren't you?"

Cyclone just shivered. He was dead meat. Shredded dead meat, to be more specific of how severe his punishment was going to be.

"Heh. Well, Cyclone...there's something I want you to deliver to Hikaru as soon as you get back. You think you can do that for me?" Kamichi asked.

"H-Huh?" Cyclone looked confused.

"Here. Just give this to Hikaru whenever you see him." Kamichi pretended to turn and reach inside of his pack, but then lashed out and slammed the whip into Cyclone's chest again, making Cyclone scream in pain and fall over.

"Kamichi...don't you think you're being a little...harsh?" Kouki whispered, frightened by the sight of the pitiful little creature writhing and screaming all over the floor, more blood spurting all over the place.

Kiroku just stared.

Kamichi laughed. "No, I don't think I'm being harsh. I think I'm being very fair, in fact." He said as he just stood there and watched Cyclone suffer.

Kouki knew that Kamichi was deeply hurt. She knew that the memory of Hikaru was killing Kamichi on the inside. Hikaru was the one who had taken everything from him, even though it wasn't totally his fault.

"Kamichi..." Kouki whimpered, putting her arms around him. She felt so weird and upset for Kamichi, she didn't know what to do.

Kamichi turned slightly and sighed, glaring at the floor. He was not resisting her nor hugging her back.

As this was going on, Cyclone quickly took the opportunity to pick himself up and start stumbling away. Kouki quickly pulled away from Kamichi and pointed. "Look!"

"Hey!!" Kamichi yelled angrily as he, Kouki, and Kiroku dashed off as quick as lightning after him. They couldn't let Cyclone get back to the others.

Cyclone struggled a bit, but he managed to get up on his wings and fly overhead the three rogue ninja who were chasing him down with their dangerous weapons held out in front of them.

After a few minutes, Cyclone was breathless. He still hadn't gotten fully used to his newly working wings yet. A shadow slave's wings were never built for much endurance, anyway. When Cyclone made sure he was far ahead of his pursuers, he landed back onto his feet and ran across the hallway as fast as he possibly could. It wasn't fast enough. They were gaining on him.

"Uugh...Transform!" Cyclone yelled, putting his hands in a sign and summoning as much chakra as possible. He then realized that the electric shock from the whip had made it harder for him to concentrate, but he managed to transform back into the human boy he had turned into before (which he thought would be a faster and easier way to travel).

Using his newer human legs, Cyclone dashed ahead of Kamichi and his squad, still struggling to stay ahead. The four turned a corner down a much larger, more familiar hallway, and the race continued on for another full five minutes.

"Waaaait! Stooooop! Trap!" Kamichi screamed out to Kouki and Kiroku, who were puffing behind him. He quickly skidded to a stop, holding out both of his arms to hold back his approaching teammates.

Kiroku stopped, breathless. "What's the matter, Kamichi?! You're letting him get away!" He said frantically, pointing after Cyclone, who was now far ahead of them.

"No. I sense a cavity that leads to underground a few yards ahead. It's a trap." Kamichi said with a tired smile. "Cyclone's not going anywhere. Consider him finished."

Sure enough, as soon as Cyclone thought his worries of being hunted down by Kamichi were finally about to be released, the ground quickly opened from underneath, gravity instantly sucking his screaming body inside...

_**...A Few Moments Later...**_

Cyclone plopped onto the hard ground with a thunk, completley breathless. He shook his dizzied head and looked around at all of the familiar faces surrounding him. He snorted. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Who are you?" Tarina raised an eyebrow.

"Who does it look like?" Cyclone asked grumpily, appalled that Tarina didn't recognize him.

Tarina looked blank. This guy looked a little familiar, but not really. "Uh...I dunno. You just appear to be some random kid."

Cyclone slapped himself in the head, suddenly remembering that he had transformed into a human being to run faster. "I...nevermind. I'm just Cyclone, okay?"

"Cyclone?!" Everybody gasped.

"Yeah." Cyclone said he sat up from his laying down position. "Don't look so surprised. It's just a Transformation Justu that I used to disguise myself, and I like it. I'm keeping this new look for a while. Just to try it out."

"W-Where's Hikaru?" Slicer ran up to Cyclone, his eyes widened. "What happened to him?!"

Cyclone sighed, everything coming back to him all of a sudden. "Hikaru's trapped in another cage, but I'm sure he'll be fine for now. I mean, the cage Hikaru's in is above ground, but he's still trapped and can't get out. We were both trapped at first, but I slipped through the bars to try and nab the keys from this lady, Masami, but I ended up being chased around by some ignorant goons who hated me for some weird reason. Then...I just ended up here, I guess." He shrugged.

Tarina twitched.

Zamu looked confused. "Masami? Who's that?"

"Some lady." Cyclone shrugged again, even though he knew very well that Masami wasn't simply 'some lady'. "She's one of the Keepers that guard the Rainbow Boulder, but she's really weird." He said.

Tarina flinched. "Then what happened?" She said in some sort of wary tone. She wanted to know more about Masami and what went on between her and Hikaru.

Cyclone continued to tell the entire story of how Hikaru had went crazy and had nearly destroyed Masami. Then, he proceeded to tell about how he had gotten knocked out by Masami, the plan and Hikaru had devised, and how he had an unpleasant run-in with Kamichi.

"Kamichi?!" Masakaru cried. "Y-You mean...Kamichi's here?!"

Cyclone nodded. "Yeah. I don't know much about the kid, but he was being a big jerk towards me. Look at what he did!" Cyclone half-removed his robe, showing off the scars that Kamichi had left on his body (which he could not hide even after the Transformation Justu).

"That's terrible!" Midori exclaimed.

Cyclone just sighed and looked away. "But I...I feel really bad about leaving Hikaru all by himself. I mean, we're all trapped now! There's nothin' we can do! Who knows what'll happen to him next with not a single friend in sight?!"

"A lot of things will happen to him," Tarina said. "He'll be dissected by the leader of the temple, Nuboru, after being sacraficed to the Midnight Demon's spirit and used as a tool to kill all human beings and take over the world."

Everyone turned and shot Tarina a weird look. She had said it so calmly, as if it was just an everyday thing.

"What?" Tarina asked, looking around cluelessly. "That's exactly what they're going to do to Hikaru. I'm being realistic."

"But...how can you just sit here and think about all of the stuff that could be happening to your brother right now?!" Ryo exclaimed.

Tarina shrugged. "They wont touch him now. Their monitors probably haven't even picked Hikaru's location up yet. They'll have to go through alot just to get Hikaru to the Midnight Demon's chamber, which I'm sure will be pretty difficult. It'll take at least an entire 24 hours."

Cyclone was about to reply, but suddenly looked around the room in confusion. "Hey...anybody know where Omari went?"

"Captured." Zamu sighed gloomily, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. "Hopefully, she wont be dissected until tomorrow, either. There's nothing we can do but wait."

"Exactly." Tarina said, instantly recognizing the sarcasm in Zamu's glum voice. "I've been captured many times before and I know what it's like to suffer from plans that were never really thought out. We want to wait untill at least two in the morning. That way, most of the guards will be asleep. Besides, the night guards are more fun to play around with."

"You've been here before?" Midori blinked.

Tarina smiled innocently. "Of course I have! I know this place in all directions, and that's partially how I determined where you all were. Trapped down here, not even aware of your distant surroundings."

Everybody sighed sorrowfully.

"So!" Tarina beamed, clapping her hands together in a cheerful manner. "We have loads of time on our hands. We don't even have to get ready for a full three hours since it's only ten. We might as well find something to do." She said. Tarina needed to keep her mind off of Masami meeting Hikaru, or else it would drive her crazy. The Sunrise Demon's spirit wasn't far away, and Midori's open shoulder wound was unintentionally making her excited in a hungry, vampirish way. She felt like a starved predator, and needed something to keep her mind off of the urge to taste blood again.

The group exchanged weird, doubtful looks when Tarina had said this. They were all trapped in a cage (again). Honestly, what was there to do?

Tarina frowned. "C'mon, you guys! I'm bored, too! Can't somebody find a nice game to play or something? Or at least start a conversation?"

"Yeah, we can start a conversation." Slicer said to Tarina. "Let me start with a question. How did you get here?"

"Through a portal." Tarina replied, shrugging. She then sighed. "C'mon, you have to do better than that. That was basically a close-ended question. There's really no way to interpret it any further."

"Must you be so exact with everything?" Cyclone groaned.

"Yes." Tarina beamed proudly as she reached over and pinched Cyclone's cheek. "Now, anything else we can talk about?" She asked, turning back to the group.

"...How are Haku and Zabuza doing?" Zamu asked softly after a few moments. He had decided to start the conversation this time because he didn't want to think too much about where Omari and Hikaru were at the moment. He needed to keep his mind off of the bad stuff for now, or else he'd go crazy, too.

"Haku and Zabuza? Oh, they're doing good." Tarina said plainly. "But I actually had to sneak away from them to come here. They can be pretty strict, though. Especially Haku. He's always watching me and trying to keep me out of trouble!"

"I wonder why," Cyclone grumbled.

Tarina ignored Cyclone's little comment as she continued. "I left them a note right before I set off for Earth. But I didn't tell them where I was going, because they would probably follow me here."

Nobody responded, and Tarina sighed when she realized that nobody except for Zamu was paying attention to what she was saying.

"Alright, then. That closes that coversation." Tarina threw up her hands. "Anyone else have an announcement? A question? Anything interesting to say?" She asked.

"Uuh...I have a question." Ryo said in his little nasal voice, raising a hand.

"Go ahead."

Ryo pointed to the corner of the roomy cage where a closed wooden door was located. "What's that door lead to? I mean, me and Tomozaku were thinkin' about opening it, but we were too scared something might pop out at us."

This sparked some interest from the other members of the group. The majority of them looked up from the ground and at Tarina. Obviously, they were curious of what was behind the door, too.

Tarina raised an eyebrow. "You guys were too scared to open that door??"

Everybody in the group exchanged partially aggravated and questioning looks.

Tarina laughed as she stood from her cross-legged position and walked to the door. Everybody flinched, which made her laugh even harder. "It's okay, you guys. Nothing scary's in here. It's just a bathroom!" She said as she swung open the door.

Everybody turned their bodies to peek inside. It was a bathroom. And a decent one, in fact.

"Why would they put a bathroom down here...?" Zamu asked in a weird tone.

Tarina shrugged. "I dunno. It's pretty convenient, if you ask me."

Everybody looked at each other and agreed.

Tarina lay down, flat on her back, and groaned. "Uugh! You guys are no fun at all."

"Well, what do you expect us to do?!" Zamu cried, deeply aggravated by Tarina's childish comment.

Tarina shrugged.

"Well, what is it?!" Zamu asked. "How should we be more fun? Do you want us to all hold hands and play Patty-Cake??"

"Everybody knows you don't hold hands when you play Patty-Cake, Smarty-goon!" Cyclone pointed out childishly.

Zamu shook his head and sighed. "Not the point, Cyclone."

"Yes it is too!" Cyclone cried defensively. "How could you play Patty-Cake if you were holding hands?! You clap your hands together, not hold them. If you were holding hands while playing, you wouldn't be playing at all! So, yes, it is the point!"

"Alright, then! What I meant to say was, we'll hold hands then play Patty-Cake! How's that, Tarina?!" Zamu snapped sarcastically as Cyclone snorted and turned away.

"Eh...Patty-Cake is too boring." Tarina grumbled, rolling onto her side. "That's it. I'm going to sleep."

Zamu shook his head, sighed, and leaned up against the wall. He was in the worst mood ever. Nobody was recognizing the significance of the problems that were going on here. Tarina seemed to know, but Zamu didn't think that she was taking this too seriously.

Cyclone suddenly burst out crying.

Everybody turned.

"What?!" Tarina asked, alarmed.

"I...want...my...Hikaruuu!" Cyclone wailed. "He's all alone by himself and it's all my fault! And now he's never coming back because I was too chicken to fight those jerks!! Waaaaahhh!..."

Tarina sighed and walked over to him. She kneeled down next to him. "Cyclone..."

Cyclone sniffled. "H-Hmm...?" He looked up at Tarina.

Tarina slapped him as hard as possible. Cyclone fell back and away from her, shocked and hurt. "Get ahold of yourself!! We wont get anywhere if we all start crying and putting ourselves down! What's done is done!! You're GOING to see Hikaru again, you got that?!" She said as if she was an army commander.

Cyclone twitched. "Uh...I...I..." He just couldn't get the tears out of his eyes.

Tarina rubbed her head in a tired, aggravated manner as everyone else watched in shock. She pulled Cyclone into a hug and kissed him. "I'm sorry. Just stop crying, okay? We're going to get Hikaru back. I swear."

Cyclone just cried even harder and lay down on the floor.

Tarina sighed, shook her head, and decided to just let it go for now. Let Cyclone cry if he wanted to cry. Hitting him would just make it worse...

If anything could get any worse than this, that is.

Tarina's ears perked up as she heard a few quiet footsteps shushing through the bare hallway that led out from the cage. It was coming from around yet another corner. It wasn't just one person. It had to be at least two.

"You guys!" Tarina whispered quietly, glaring at all of them furtively. "They're coming! Make sure you don't look suspicious."

"Who's coming?" Midori asked loudly. "Why do we have to-"

"Shhh-hhhhh!" Tarina growled, grabbing Midori, pulling her onto her lap and tightly covering her mouth with both hands. "Beee...quuiiieeet!" She hissed furiously as Midori struggled to talk and squirm away.

Just then, two people (most likely Keepers) walked towards the cage, one with a chain of keys hanging out of their pocket. Tarina gasped and threw Midori off of her lap none too gently just as the two approached the captured group. Everybody just stared.

The first one was a young girl, dressed in a black robe with a large symbol stitched onto the back of it (like most of the other Keepers' uniforms). She had long black hair and bright blue eyes. She had a beautiful and delicate yet young-looking face, like Midori, but wasn't as kind and innocent-looking as Midori. She looked downright mean and stuck-up. This Keeper also wore a Hidden Rock headband around her forehead and held a wooden staff in her left hand. She glared down at the large group of Mist ninja.

The other worker seemed a little different. His or her identity was completley impossible to comprehend. The only thing the group could figure out was that the person was at least a young teenager. He or she was dressed in a long, black, silky robe with a black veil covering he or she's entire face (except for two eyeholes, of course). He or she also had the exact same staff as the other Keeper's. This kid's veil was pointed at the top, so their outfit seemed to greatly resemble the Grim Reaper's.

"Uh...hi!" Cyclone waved nervously over at the two kids staring at them from outside of the cage.

"...Where'd you get that robe?" The covered-up kid asked abruptly. At that moment, everybody realized that this person was a young boy.

Cyclone looked tense and jittery. "Uuh..well...you see..." He stammered, not knowing what to say.

"Did you steal that?" The girl demanded.

"N-No!" Cyclone exclaimed, his eyes widened. "I-I would never steal from you guys! Nope! Never! I-I just did a Transformation Jutsu to copy another Keeper's outfit, that's all!"

"Why?"

Cyclone scratched his head and smiled nervously. "Uh...because...I thought you had...a, uh...great sense of style! Yeah! Awesome robes! Really comfortable!" He lied quickly.

The two Keepers knew that Cyclone was lying, but just looked at each other and shrugged. It didn't matter. No matter what Cyclone's previous intentions were, he was caught anyway. That was that.

Tarina twitched and turned halfway around.

The boy with the black outfit and the girl just glanced at Tarina and then back at the rest of the group.

"Wh-What are you going to do to us?" Ryo finally managed to squeak out, shivering.

"We're going to babysit you," The boy said in a rather soft voice as he quickly picked out a silver key from his chain and unlocked the cage door. He slowly stepped inside of the large area along with the female Keeper, then shut and locked the door once again. "We heard you guys were trouble, so we were instructed to sit with you in here untill further notice."

Tarina suddenly screamed out a curse word in sheer frustration, punching the wall. Their only plan was foiled now that the Keepers were going to be watching their every move. Now they couldn't break out without a fight.

The female Keeper looked over and batted her eyelashes at Tarina. "Excuse me, is there a problem?" She asked sweetly.

Tarina just glared at the Keeper, breathlessly removing her bloodied knuckles from the dented stone wall.

The female Keeper cleared her throat and smiled. "I'm Katsumi, by the way. And this is Hirokazu." She said, guesturing to the covered-up boy next to her. "So, uh...if you need anything, then just tell us! ...Not that we would give it to you or anything." She added quickly.

Hirokazu just looked at the floor and shuddered at the sound of his own name, as if it was a curse.

"What's wrong with him?" Slicer asked boldly, raising an eyebrow over at Hirokazu. He had been one of the only ones to see Hirokazu's strange reaction to his own name, and instantly became wary.

Hirokazu just mumbled something and nervously peered over at Tarina. Tarina looked over at him, her fists shaking, her charm pulsating madly. It was clear to everyone that she wanted to murder him for some reason, but nobody except for she and Hirokazu knew why. Hirokazu just shivered and looked away.

Not one member of the captured group knew what to say. Two Keepers had basically just walked in to monitor them for the entire night, which meant that thier plan was foiled if they didn't do something now. They could ambush Katsumi and Hirokazu, but nobody knew what the extent of their true power was. It would be too dangerous and energy-consuming to fight against this. They had to find another way.

Katsumi continued to scan the other members of the group untill one caught her attention. She walked casually over to Masakaru and sat down next to him. Masakaru shot her a weird look. Midori had her eyes (which were filled with fire) glued to Katsumi now.

"Hey." Katsumi greeted lightly, smiling flirtatiously.

Masakaru didn't respond and just looked away.

Katsumi cocked her head and waved her hand in front of Masakaru's face. "I SAID, hey!"

"...Hi." Masakaru mumbled.

Katsumi giggled and blushed.

"Oh, uhh-uh!" Midori yelled, getting up from her spot and stomping over to where Masakaru and Katsumi were sitting. She propped her hands on her hips and glared down at the Keeper, who appeared to be about her age and size. "Masakaru's MY boyfriend! Don't even think about it!"

Katsumi shrugged smugly. "Too bad. I already did."

Midori really didn't know what to say after that. "J-Just stay away from him!"

Katsumi looked amused, her staff still in hand. "Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it if I don't?"

"Kill you," Midori growled quietly, fists clenched and shaking.

"Oh, really?" Katsumi raised her eyebrows and stood, holding her weapon at the ready but looking relaxed all the while. "We'll see about that."

Just as Midori was starting to reach in her pocket for something, Zamu came up from behind and pulled her back slowly. "Woah, woah, woah. Take it easy, Midori. Just let it go."

"But...But-!!" Midori stammered desperatley, trying to pull away.

"C'mon, Midori." Masakaru sighed. "The next thing we need isn't a huge battle between you and a guard. Besides, I'm not just going to start ignoring you because of her." He shot a quick glare over at Katsumi.

"Not interested, huh? Hmm!" Katsumi almost looked surprised. She shrugged, stood, and flipped her hair. "Fine, then. Your loss, Masakaru. I already have someone else, anyway." She said as she started strutting away.

Midori just glared at her as Zamu finally let her go.

Katsumi turned halfway and glared back at Midori. "I don't like your attitude, little girl. This isn't over between us." She said plainly. After that she continued walking away.

"It most certainly isn't." Midori sneered and briskly walked to the opposite side of the cage as Katsumi, along with Kanaye Tomozaku, and Cyclone.

Masakaru raised his eyebrows ran his hand through his hair. This was going to be tough...and annoying. Midori was the last person he had expected to start a real rivalry in a place like this.

Hirozaku stood from his kneeling position and slowly stepped into the bathroom. He peeked out at everyone nervously for a second before carefully shutting the door. Everybody watched him.

"Huh...weirdo. Slicer snorted as he went back to picking a splinter out of his palm with a kunai.

Tarina just glared at the floor, her fists shaking madly, blood (from the charm) and tears streaming down her face. She sniffled.

Midori was deeply worried. She stood and approached where Tarina was with great caution, making sure not to get too close. "Uhh...T-Tarina? You okay?"

Tarina didn't respond, trying her hardest to fight the urge...

"Tarina?" Midori asked shakily.

Tarina turned slightly, but forced herself to advert her eyes from Midori's cut shoulder, where the strong scent of fresh blood was. "Huh? Oh. Sorry, Midori. I...I just don't feel well, that's all."

"You think it was from the goo?"

"No..." Tarina said. "It's not from the goo...it's...it's...well, it's kind of hard to explain." She shook her head slightly and slumped against the wall as she sat.

Midori sat next to her. "What? You can tell me, can't you?"

Tarina sighed. If she ended up telling Midori, a bunch of different things could happen. Someone else could overhear and become frightened of Tarina, or Midori could get frightened herself. But, Midori probably wouldn't understand, so...

Why not?

_**...Meanwhile...**_

Omari found herself in a dark room. A large, glowing, green-colored symbol lay underneath her. The symbol seemed familiar, making her senses tingle. Especially on her cheeks.

She was laying on her back, and had woken up less than thirty seconds ago. Nobody else was in the dark room. Omari had blacked out when the hideous dragon had started to carry her away and...that was it. Now she was here, confused and tingling all over.

Omari felt stiff. She sat up and started to stretch, but that only made her hurt even more. A strong wave of pain came across her body. Her cheeks twitched, and her hand instantly shot up to touch them. A weird metal thing was attatched to each cheek, and the metal things each had a long chain which tightly was attatched to the wall.

Omari gasped, suddenly realizing that she was trapped. The magnet-like things attatched to her cheeks wouldn't let her move around much at all, let alone get out of the room. A wooden door was in the corner of the room. It slowly opened to reveal a tall shinobi man with orangish hair and evil-looking eyes. He stepped inside, smirking, staring at her coldly, but with some type of longing in his eyes.

Omari shivered. When she stood to face the man, her chains tightened and she could barely move without hurting.

"Hello, there." The man smiled. "I'm sure you're wondering who I am. My name is Nuboru."

"Uuh..." Omari didn't know how to respond to this at all.

"What is your name, little girl?" Nuboru asked simply in a high-pitched tone, one commonly used for talking to small children. It made Omari feel inferior and even more trapped than before.

"I...I..." Omari was about to say who are you?, but the man had just told her who he was right off the bat. It wouldn't make sense. "I...what do you want with me?! Why am I here?!" She demanded, confused.

"Honey, let's not get too difficult. I told you my name, now you tell me yours. It's that simple. We'll get into the other stuff later." Nuboru said patiently, still grinning evilly.

Omari felt like exploding in frustration, and the metal magnets attatched to her were making her extra-sensitive, but she had to keep her cool. "Uugh...m-my name is Omari." She growled reluctantly.

Nuboru shook his head, still smiling. "No, it isn't."

Omari glared at him. "H-Huh? Yes, it is!"

"No, it's really not."

"Well, if you know so much, then why did you even bother asking me?" Omari challenged in an annoyed tone.

"To see how much you know."

This guy's attitude was getting on Omari's nerves. She didn't know how to react to it. Nuboru seemed so calm, so smug, so triumphant...and Omari didn't even know why. Omari felt like she had lost in a battle she didn't even fight in. Something about Nuboru made her feel funny and inferior.

Omari glared at Nuboru. "You're confusing me. And annoying me. Enough with the small talk. What does it matter to you if my name is Omari or not?! Why am I here, and what do you want with me?!" She demanded again.

"Hey, hey, let's not get all riled up here." Nuboru said, gently putting his hand halfway in the air. "We'll save that for later."

"What do you mean?!" Omari yelled.

Nuboru grinned. "You're a monster, Omari. You're nothing. Just a demonic abomination who is only good for having the power sucked out of it. That's why you're here."

Omari's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Yes, it's true." Nuboru sighed. "We anticipated your arrival, demon. I want your power, and that's exactly why I sent out the Skull Dragon to bring you back here. The metal devices attatched to you will help me obtain your energy. They will suck out what is in your chakra stream and be stored in there for good. Then, I can use it for my own purposes."

Omari couldn't believe this. "N-No! You can't have my abilities. I wont let you have them!" She said, starting to writhe and squirm around.

"Yeah, that's right. Keep squirming. We'll see how far you get to resisting before that thing shocks you to death and sucks up all of your energy." Nuboru said smoothly.

Omari instantly stopped squirming. She suddenly knew what Nuboru was waiting for. He wanted her barbels to pop out. That would be the time when the metal chakra-sucking devices would come to life. If that happened, it would all be over for her. She had to be careful.

"If I were you, Omari, I would just surrender now. And hey, you never know. I just might let you live for a little while longer." Nuboru shrugged.

Omari's cheeks sparked as she tried once more to squirm. A horrific, electric shock ran through her body, causing her to scream out in agony. It felt even worse than the touch of a Light Kunai.

Nuboru cackled. "I wouldn't try that again," He said as Omari just glowered at him, shaking with fury. "Just surrender, calm your nerves, and I'll turn the switch on. Then, we can get this over with."

Ugh...if...if I just produced enough power to overheat the metal device and melt it...I could get away. Omari thought quickly. It wouldn't be too hard, considering that these devices made it easier to locate her special chakra points.

When Nuboru saw Omari's cheeks spark golden lightning again, he raised his eyebrows. Omari tried her hardest not to scream out in pain when the energy torture wave hit again. "Didn't you hear me? Give up, and it wont be as hard."

Omari growled loudly in her alternative, metallic monster voice. Her eyes glowed bright green and blue ears popped out of her head. Now, the only thing she needed to get out were those barbels...then, she'd be free. "Rrrrrrr..."

"St-Stop!" Nuboru cried, a little alarmed by Omari's resistance. If Omari managed to tough it out with the electric waves, then the chakra-device would shatter. It was time for Plan B.

Omari let out a wild scream, golden energy flowing throughout the entire room now, the metal devices attatched to her cheeks vibrating madly. The stray golden chakra washing over Nuboru's skin made him shiver. Omari's shrill, monsterous screams of resistance echoed throughout the entire room, making it shake.

Must...break...free! Omari thought in a wildly frustrated, feeling a few drops of blood leak through her pores throughout her body. She then struggled to look up at Nuboru with a murderous look in her eyes. "Not so calm now, are you?!? I think my power would be too much to handle for an ignorant jerk like you..."

"Wwwaaaahh!" Nuboru screamed, quickly snatching his walkie-talkie from his pocket. He quickly switched on the button and held the device to his mouth. "Emergency! Emergency! Masatoshiii! She's resisting and overheating the system! She's too strong! We need to deactivate the chakra magnets, right away! Then send someone with a tranquilizer!" He furiously hissed into the speaker.

"Yessir!" Came Masatoshi's scratchy reply from the other end.

"Waah!" Nuboru quickly opened the door and ran outside, breathless, leaving Omari to her power build-up. The door he had went through led right back to the back of the control room, where everybody was staring at him in shock and worry.

"Wh-Wha...what happened?" A dopey-looking kid asked from a few feet away. Nuboru flinched as everybody else took up the cry, both kids and adults.

"Is the demon dying?!"

"Tell us, Sir! What happened to the monster?!"

"Why was there screaming?!"

"Would all of you idiots just shut up?!" Nuboru cried breathlessly, sweat trickling down his forehead. "The demon is certainly not dying! We underestimated it by at least fifty percent. It's got alotta power. Masatoshi's already sent someone to deactivate the device and move the demon girl to a better room. Hopefully, these actions will be done immediatley and the demon break out of the room and kill us all."

The employees just exchanged worried looks.

Nuboru cursed under his breath and shoved his way back to the front of the room, where the head chair was. He plopped himself down in it, and wiped his sweaty head after someone handed him a fluffy blue towel. "Uugh...didn't see that coming. But, we'll leave that to the others. Anybody got anything on Hikaru?"

"I do," A depressed man from the corner piped up from his station. "I just found out that he's trapped in one of the cages now, so he can't be that hard to reach at this point."

"Did he meet Masami?"

"Yes." The man sighed. "He did, and there was an attack. His energy is probably drained to about seventy-five percent now."

"What?!" Nuboru sat up in his chair, angry. "He met Masami?! Where is she?! Does he know?!"

The man shrugged. "Masami's long gone from there. She's actually located by the stairs now. We can't tell if Hikaru knows Masami's his mother. He probably doesn't, but there was still an attack."

"Alright, then. Somebody send Masami over here." Nuboru said to the other side of the room, then turned back to where the man was standing. "What exactly is Hikaru doing?"

"He was sleeping after the attack, but now he's awake. We don't sense any special energy from him, so he's probably just sitting there, waiting for something to happen." The employee said.

"Good." Nuboru said as he swiveled in his chair to look at the camera screens. "And he's in Cage 2. That's even better. The Midnight Demon's chamber isn't too far away from there, so his energy is probably already regained."

"When do you want us to retrieve him, Sir?"

Nuboru shrugged casually. "Whenever you think you're ready."

_**...Back In Cage 1...**_

"Y-You mean...?" Midori's eyes widened in response to Tarina's explanation of why she was so hyper all of a sudden.

"Yeah..." Tarina sighed as she held the wet washcloth (brought by Zamu) to her forehead. "...That's why Hirokazu is afraid to show his face. He looks just like Hikaru, only without the charm."

"Pretty punky, if you ask me..." Midori replied flatly. "That's why you wanted to kill him when you saw him, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Tarina said. "It's like an involuntary urge that I get when the Sunrise Demon's around. Also, I'm kind of mad at Hirokazu because he's so afraid of me and Hikaru. He thinks of us as monsters, only because he was born normal and stuck with our mom all of his life."

"If I had a brother that I had never seen, I'd be excited to share the same physical traits. I'd be proud." Midori said. "Y'know, I...once had a brother before, a little one, but I sorta...killed him when things got out of hand."

Tarina just looked at Midori for a second and blinked. A girl like Midori? Kill? That's kind of hard to believe...

"Hard to believe, I know," Midori laughed.

Tarina flinched, disturbed by this. "How did you know what I was...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Midori smiled apologetically. "I forgot to tell you. I can read anyone's emotions, so it's not that hard for me to tell what you're thinking. I see these little waves coming from everyone at all times, and they tell me what emotion they are feeling, depending on what color it is. Just a second ago, your waves turned from blue-green, which is comforted, to bronze. Bronze means that you're skeptical."

Tarina just looked at her. "...Wow."

Midori beamed and blushed, knowing that she had impressed Tarina by far. "Hee hee!"

Tarina was definately impressed. Midori had many special abilites that gave her battle advantages she didn't even know about. But Midori's abilities also unnerved Tarina a bit, because this meant she could always tell whether Tarina was telling the truth or not. If Midori ever became an enemy, Tarina's verbal confliction skills wouldn't stand a chance against her in a debate or deception process.

But, no. Midori was a cute, sweethearted little girl. Tarina could tell that Midori liked Tarina a lot, and would do almost anything to prove herself as a strong warrior. Midori was a friend, and that was good.

Tarina would also loved to had have Midori as a student and friend. Tarina had always been longing for a fresh young mind to teach ever since her death on Earth, and Midori seemed to be the perfect potential student. Naive, yet so curious and creative. Maybe there was still time to teach her after the mission.

Or...why not now?

"Hey, Midori..." Tarina said in a casual, bored tone as she wrung the washcloth and hung it on a small, rusty rack.

"Hm?" Midori raised her eyebrows.

"You wanna have a sparring match?" Tarina asked.

Midori's eyes widened in fright. She would have automatically said yes with honor if she didn't know Tarina. But now she knew how rough Tarina could be, even with people she didn't know. She laughed nervously. "Uh...I-I don't think that's a good idea."

Tarina frowned. "Why not? I'm bored."

"I'd...I'd really rather not get the living daylights beat out of me at the moment..."

"I would never do that!" Tarina exclaimed in a guilty tone, then looked down for a moment. "Oh, wait a second...yeah, that is sort of what I would do..."

Midori looked uncomfortable.

"B-But I would guide you through it!" Tarina assured her. "There's some certain things I would want to focus on."

"Like beating me to a pulp?" Midori asked.

Tarina sighed. "No, Midori...that's not what I would focus on. We need to work on your skills. I want to see how you battle and what your strong points are. It'll help us on the mission before we go. Please? I'm not going to wear you out or hurt you...too much, anyway."

Midori looked uncertain, then shrugged. "Um...okay. Only if you promise never to bite me again."

"...I can't make that promise."

"Tarina!!"

"I was just kidding! Geez!" Tarina laughed loudly as Midori looked at the floor and pouted. She stood up and started for the door. "Come on. We're going to practice in the front of the cage using no jutsus."

"B-But I-" Midori started to protest, but Tarina dragged her by the wrist out of the bathroom door.

Midori stumbled as Tarina let her go. She was getting thrown around alot lately, whether it was by Omari or Tarina, but now she was starting to get used to it. Midori saw Tarina walking towards the front of the cage without looking back, so she reluctantly followed.

On the way to the front of the cage (the large area where nobody was), Tarina passed Hirokazu. Hirokazu gulped and nervously looked up at her from his low sitting position. As she walked past him, Tarina simply nudged his head with her palm, in a move that was neither mean nor nice (but definatley more mean than nice). Hirokazu just looked down and away.

When both Midori and Tarina reached the front of the cage and stood on opposite sides, Tarina smiled evilly. She was in an athletic fighting stance. "You ready?"

"Nooo!" Came Midori's high-pitched, pitiful reply. She felt even more nervous when she felt's everyone's eyes on the two of them. The others probably had nothing other to do then watch the training session. "I'm too scared. You're gonna hurt me, I know it! Y-You'll break a bone or something!"

Tarina sighed and briefly put her fists down. "No, I'm not. Now, let's get started!" She said as she suddenly disappeared into nothing, faded in a hazy, smoky mist that quickly departed as well as Tarina herself.

Midori blinked. "Wh-Where did she go?" She wildly looked around, and gasped as she saw Tarina zooming towards her from a southeast direction. When Tarina reached her, Midori tried to dodge, but Tarina had already caught her arm.

"When an opponent's that fast, you have to get out of the way as soon as possible, Midori." Tarina reprimanded as Midori struggled to get free. "The opposite goes for a slower runner. Got that?"

"Uurgh...let...me...go!" Midori cried, pulling harder and harder. "You're...gonna...hurt me!"

"Not if you try harder!" Tarina said as she quickly flung Midori into the nearby wall.

When Midori crashed, she fell right onto her back with a pitiful cough. She had to be strong. Midori slowly stood and faced Tarina, her heart already beating fast. "Yaaah!" She ran towards her new target agt a very fast, crazed manner that was not well thought out.

Tarina stepped aside at the last second and grabbed Midori's wrist again. Tarina then whipped Midori around and started bending her arm backwards in a painful way so it could be snapped with one quick jerk.

"Oooooww! T-Tarina! That hurts! Lemme goooo!" Midori screamed desperatley, tears automatically filling to her eyes.

"Midori, you and I both know that you can do ten times better than that," Tarina said stonily as she tightened her grip on Midori's throbbing wrist. "Stop acting like a delicate, pathetic weakling just because you're a girl. You underestimate yourself for being so pretty and fragile. Girls can fight just as well as the boys can. Now I want to see you fight."

"I...can't!" Midori sobbed helplessly, pulling farther. Her wrist felt like it was going to snap with Tarina's grip. Her own resistance also made it feel like her arm was going to pop out of her socket. "Please let go...I can't do this! You're killing me!"

"I'm not killing you," Tarina growled. "Losing an arm wont kill you. Besides, you can easily get out of this. Don't concentrate on the pain. You're only making yourself hurt even more by thinking about how much it hurts. Focus on a way to get out of this instead."

"Uugh...I can't..." Midori started to whine.

"Don't you dare say you can't do this. If you say it again, I'll snap both of your arms off and severely dislocate your neckbone, which would probably lead you into a slow and painful death. Then you'll see how much it can hurt."

"Y-You said you wouldn't hurt me!! You would never do that!" Midori cried.

Tarina shrugged, her stony expression unchanged. "Try me. I dare you to."

Midori tried once more to pull, and screamed out in agony. "I...I just can't do it!! I'm sorry! I can't! It hurts too much!! Just stop the- aaaahh!" She cried out in surprise and fright as Tarina tackled her to the ground.

Midori was flat on her back and Tarina was on top of her on her knees, holding both of Midori's arms in a painful position. Midori sobbed even harder. Tarina glared at Midori. "Say goodbye to your arms."

"Noooo! No! No! I'm sorry! I-I'll do it!!" Midori shrieked as Tarina started to bend them backwards. "No, Tarina!! D-Don't!! Heeeeellp!" She cried as the Radiactive Sheild started to form over some parts on her body in a desperate move for protection.

Tarina smirked as she quickly got off of Midori, letting go of her arms. "See? I knew you could do it."

Midori quickly stood with fire in her eyes. "Grr...you tricked me!!" She said with the sheild still covering her arms and legs. "You weren't going to really hurt me, even if I hadn't done it!"

"Yeah, I know." Tarina shrugged, then got into a fighting position again. "Well, now that you're all riled up, I guess you now might as well spar with me."

Midori was pretty angry now, She wanted to prove just how strong she was to Tarina. Tarina could now sense the newfound courage inside of Midori and was very excited. This was going to be fun.

"Yeah," Midori growled in a low voice, her glowing green fists at the ready, "we might as well."

_**...To Be Continued (OBVIOUSLY!)...**_

_**...Turn To The Next Chapter, Please, After Reading This!!...**_

_**Hey, this was my favorite chapter to write so far! Mostly because Tarina was in it, AND some big secrets were revealed...HIKARU'S GOT A MOTHER AND A TWIN!! It's surprising but true. Hikaru's twin, Hirokazu, has only been discovered by Midori and Tarina yet, and his face hasn't been shown (even though we know VERY well what he looks like). Hirokazu, as you should know, is the only 'normal' one that was born out of he, Tarina, and Hikaru. That's right, no demon. That's why Tarina hates him so much and doesn't want him to ever meet Hikaru.**_

_**Oh, yeah! If you're also wondering how Tomozaku and Slicer ended up inside of the cage, don't worry or bother with it. I didn't make a mistake and skipped their story on purpose 'cause it really doesn't matter. I mean, the majority of the rest of the group ended up in there, too, right? They were probably just walking down the same trap hallway and fell in. Oh, and if you're wondering about that special hallway, then I'll let you know that almost every single hallway on the first floor leads to that particular one. Almost everybody who enters gets trapped. No special story to share there.**_

_**All in all, I thought this was a pretty interesting chapter. Some more interesting things are going to happen to Hikaru and Omari, and there is definately some evidence that Tarina and Midori are going to have a close bond in their mission. And if the next chapter isn't out now, then it should be in about 2-3 days. Okay? Okay:)**_

_**Bye!! Don't forget to review!!**_


	4. The Ultimate Mission: 4: More Issues

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 4: More Issues...**_

_**...Two Hours Later...**_

Hikaru was cold.

Hikaru was bored.

But most of all, Hikaru was hungry.

He had barely eaten a thing that entire day. Hikaru didn't remember eating much except for a fruit bar for the enitre day. He thought he had put a full water jug in his backpack, but the cork had ended up coming off and the water spilled all over his backpack. Now, he had gone over 24 hours without a real meal to eat or water to drink. His stomach hurt.

Cyclone hadn't returned, either.

"Uugh...stupid little goon...where'd he run off to?" Hikaru mumbled to himself. "_So_ irresponsible! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why'd I even trust him in the first place?!"

Hikaru's eyes widened and he gasped. What if Cyclone had gotten hunted down or eaten by a monster? What if he was captured by another Keeper? What if he was just dead now, his soft, lifeless body laying motionlessly on the freezing hard ground...

Hikaru shook himself out of those horrid thoughts and laughed nervously. "No, no! Cyclone's not dead! The little goon's probably still running around the temple aimlessly, trying to find me right now. ...Or, he's probably found one of the others and is leading the way for the whole group to come and rescue me! Or, even better, maybe Cyclone's already found the key and is coming here right now...with something to eat!" He said optmistically to himself in a hysterical manner. If he ever lost Cyclone, his only remaining soldier and friend, he wouldn't know what he would do. It was the only thing he had left of his villanous past to keep him sane.

Hikaru didn't care if Cyclone returned with the key or not. He just wanted him _there. _With him. His best friend.

Hikaru jumped up and ran to the front bars as he heard somebody walking towards his cage area. What if it was Cyclone, still in a human shaped body? What if it was one of his friends? What if it was a Keeper?

Now he could hear more than just one person walking. About three or four, to be exact. Hmm.

As soon as the people walking by came into clear view, Hikaru's eyes went red and he glared. _"You...!"_

Kamichi stopped and looked at him. He laughed. "Well, well, well. What a lovely surprise!" He exclaimed as two of his teammates (one of them being Kouki) stopped in front of the cage as well.

Hikaru suddenly looked at the position he was in right now. Hungry, tired, pale, and trapped in a cage. This was embarassing. He looked at Kamichi, who was still smiking. "Um..."

"You're in quite a pickle there, aren't ya, buddy?" Kamichi smiled.

Hikaru glared at him. "Don't just stand there and laugh at me! You've got to help me!! They're going to kill me!!"

Kamichi, still beaming, slowly shook his head. "No can do, Hikaru."

"WHAT?!" Hikaru screeched, causing Kamichi's teammates to back up a little. Kamichi just stood there snickering, hands stuffed in his oversized pockets. "You had better blast me out of here right now!! The cage isn't indestructable from the outside! You're strong enough! You have to help me!!"

Kamichi sneered. "No! I'm enjoying this! You're trapped, and I'm free for once. It feels so good to see how miserable and stupid you look, I don't think I want to give up the feeling just yet."

"What! Nobody talks to me like that!!" Hikaru yelled as Kamichi laughed loudly at him. "Uugh...dang it, Kamichi!! This isn't a joke!! Get me out of here!! Everything that happened in the past is behind us now, and I'm a much better person. Just get me out! I NEED your help!" Hikaru demanded.

"Not a chance," Kamichi said. "Besides, I'm betting that your team is after the Rainbow Boulder like we are. I can't let you guys and your petty problems slow us down. How would I know that you're not going to jump me the second I let you out?"

"What! I would never do that!!" Hikaru cried defensively, even though he knew very well that sweet talking wouldn't do the trick here.

"I'm not willing to take the risk of whether you're lying or not," Kamichi said simply and started walking away. "You're not any less annoying than you were before, let me tell you that much. I'm sure you can manage on your own."

"WAIT!! NOOO! PLEASE!! LEMME OUT! GO GET HELP! DO SOMETHIIING!" Poor Hikaru screeched desperatley, jumping up and down and banging onto the cage bars untill Kamichi and his team were out of sight. When they were gone, Hikaru sighed and plopped down on the floor once again. His stomach grumbled and his head was pounding.

"Ooh-hooh..." Hikaru groaned. He just sat there for about a half an hour, waiting for something to happen. Finally, more footsteps were heard in the distance. Someone was coming.

A small bright light was gleaming in the distance and Hikaru squinted to see that a sad-looking dude with a bag in his hand was slowly walking towards him. Long but unbroken shackles were worn on his ankles and wrists. His short red hair was messy and his posture was horrible. He was slumping, as if he had no right to walk with his head up. Maybe he didn't.

When the man reached the cage he just stared at the breathless, tense Hikaru and tossed him the bag. "A rowdy one, aren't you? ...Here you go."

Hikaru snatched the bag from the ground and looked inside. He shuddered. It was meat. Raw, bloody,_ pink _meat. A midnight snack. Lovely.

Hikaru glared at the guy. "How am I suppossed to cook this?!" He shouted angrily, holding the hunk of meat up in a disgusted manner.

The man shrugged. "I didn't know demons liked to cook their food." He said in a slow, deep tone that sounded very depressed. Hikaru felt horribly sorry for the man, but he _must_ have done something wrong to get himself into such a position, right?

"I-I'm not a demon!! What're you talkin' about?! _I'm not a monster!! _I'm not, I'm not!" Hikaru screamed angrily, his eyes starting to turn red again. He looked down at his hands. His nails had turned into claws and his hands grew large and bony instead of his regular warm, fleshy hands. He wanted to eat the raw, bloody meat all of a sudden and felt disgusting. He started to sob. "What's wrong with me...?"

"The Midnight Demon's prescence is close," The man droned. He sort of sounded like a zombie. "I know it. I was instructed to go to it's chamber."

"The Midnight Demon's spirit is here?!" Hikaru yelled. So that explained it. "Wait...wh-why are _you_ going to the chamber? What business do you have with the Midnight Demon?"

"...I'm going to feed myself to him. Master's orders." He said. He acted as if this was nothing.

"Feed yourself to the Midnight Demon?! Are you crazy?!" Hikaru screamed. "Wh-Why would you do that?! Wh-Why can't you just run away from here instead of feeding yourself to a beast?!"

"If the Midnight Demon's angry spirit is not fed every once a month, then it could absorb the Avalanche Temple itself and use it as energy to break free and destroy the world. We must keep it satisfied, or the whole world goes to waste. I have no choice." The man said.

"You nutcase!! You stupid, goony nutcase!! That's disgusting!! Don't do that to yourself! Just throw something else to the demon and you could save your own neck! Why don't you just jump another Keeper and throw him in there?!" Hikaru cried.

The man shrugged. "I haven't the strength for that. Now, I must be going. The Midnight Demon's spirit calls me. My partner will also be here in a few minutes to pick you up and sacrafice you as well. The Midnight Demon just might come alive inside of you again if you prove powerful enough." He said.

"Wait, what?! Sacrafice?! I...alive?! Inside m-me?! _No! _I...I can't become his host again! I wont be able to live with myself!" Hikaru screamed, slapping his hands to his head. "This sucks! I'm doomed!!"

"Welcome to the Avalanche Temple," The man snorted in what was suppossed to be a sarcastic tone. "In here, everything's doomed. Farewell..." He mumbled as he slowly started walking away with his same slouchy, ashamed posture.

"Wait! Nonononono! Get me outta here! I can't eat this crap! At least give me a match or two before feeding yourself to a demon! C'mon!" Hikaru yelled to him, but after a few seconds, he was gone, too.

Hikaru groaned as he looked at the messy slab of meat he had been given. Back when he was a _monster, _he probably would have gobbled it down right in front of the man and pretend to be grateful in a sarcastic manner, or just eat it because he was really hungry. But, Hikaru wasn't a monster anymore.

"Pff. So much for dinner..." Hikaru said as he tossed the meat out of the cage and out of his reach, instantly regretting his choice. He could at _least_ have thrown it at the side of the cage so he could get it later if he changed his mind. Too late.

Hikaru sniffled and tears formed in his eyes. He was doomed. He was a monster, and there was nothing he could do about it. A huge, horrible monster who did horrible things, reguardless of whether there was a Midnight Demon in him or not. It was how he was born. He was born cursed.

Seconds after Hikaru started to wail, he heard a soft voice. Great. _Another_ person. "Ahem." The person cleared their throat. 

Hikaru looked up. It was that woman. The one who he had attacked and knocked out Cyclone. Masami. She held a small basket in her hands and was looking down at him sympathetically.

"Wh-What're _you_ doin' here?" Hikaru grumbled, sniffling.

"Stand back, please." Masami commanded neutrally as she took out the keys with her free hand. Hikaru flinched when he saw that she had also taken out a stun gun. If he made a sudden move to escape, he would get hurt.

Hikaru wiped his tears away and quickly scooted to the back of the cage to indicate that he wanted no trouble. He could fight her and probably win, but he didn't want to take a risk with that stun gun. Masami obviously wasn't here to escort him to the Midnight Demon's chamber. He wondered what she was going to do.

Masami quickly opened the cage, placed the basket on the floor, and exited the cage once more before locking it. "Okay. You can come back now."

"Uuh..." Hikaru looked confused as he cautiously went up to the basket as if it was an explosive that he didn't know if it was lit or not. Masami watched as Hikaru knelt down and looked inside. Peach-colored, medium-sized round things were contained inside along with two small jugs of water. He gave Masami a questioning look.

"Go ahead," Masami insisted, nodding slightly. "You can eat all of it."

Hikaru cautiously picked up the first round, doughnut hole-like food and crammed it in his mouth hungrily. He was so desperate, he didn't care if it was a tranquilizer or something. It was soft. The food was some kind of warm, baked pastry filled with gooey jelly. It was the best thing he had ever tasted. He opened up a jug of water and took a nice, cold drink. He then put the jug down and stuffed about ten of the pastries in his mouth in matter of three minutes. Some were filled with a bit of honey. Some were plain. Some were filled with whipped hazelnut. Some were filled with custard. He didn't know how exactly nutritious this was, but it was really good.

Hikaru drank the rest of the first jug and decided to leave the rest for later and save some for _when_ Cyclone came back. He also had saved a bunch of the pastries. He had just remembered about Masami and looked up at her. She was still watching him, smiling slightly.

Hikaru wiped his mouth and swallowed. He blushed, not knowing what to say to the incredibly kind thing Masami had done for him. Hikaru somehow knew that Masami wasn't required to feed him. "Uh...thanks. A bunch." He said, uneasily returning the smile. Just the way she was staring at him...Hikaru wondered if something was wrong with her head.

"You're welcome..." Masami whispered, nodding. She then reached into the cage and gently stroked Hikaru's face and hair, in a trance. "You're so beautiful..."

"Um...thanks?" Hikaru just blinked, not knowing what to say or how to respond to this weird woman. "Uh..." He shook her hand off and backed up a little, straightening out his hair. He really didn't want Masami touching him like that. It was too strange. He didn't even know the lady.

Masami sighed.

"Uh...Masami...I hope you don't mind me asking...w-what's your reason for being so kind towards me? I mean, I KNOW you didn't get permission to bring me decent food and water like this. ...Why?" Hikaru asked.

Masami's eye twitched. "I, um..."

"You seemed to have taken an especial liking to me...with the food...and you touching my face...and crying all of the time...and...I...I just don't get it." Hikaru said, shrugging. "What I'm trying to say is, what's your deal?"

"I..." Masami's eyes started to water.

"What?" Hikaru asked quietly, trying to sound as kind and understanding as possible. He really wanted to know. There was something about this woman that...

"I...I'm y-y...ooooh! I'm sorry, honey!" Masami suddenly blurted out as she started to cry and run away.

"...Huh? W-Wait!! Where are you going?!" Hikaru cried as he watched Masami dash away, dropping both the keys and the stun gun. "What's your problem?! Why do you keep running away!?"

"I'm sorry! I just can't!" Hikaru heard Masami sob from afar. He just watched as she finally ran far enough to disappear from sight.

"Can't _what..._?" Hikaru asked himself in a hushed whisper, then shrugged and sighed. "Huh. Weirdo..."

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"I still don't understand how you managed to beat me!" Midori pouted breathlessly as Tarina was secretively getting ready for the jailbreak. "We were fighting for over an hour and I was giving it my all!" She said. Sure, it didn't hurt much when she lost, but Tarina had messed up her hair and given her a slightly visible black eye from the match.

"Exactly," Tarina said calmly. "You need to try and save your energy more and try to plan out what you're going to use on what. No matter how brutal it seems, fights are never truly free-for-alls unless you want to lose. I mean, I saved my energy for when you were running out of it. That's how I didn't get a scratch on me."

"Hmph." Midori harrumphed. "It's no fair. You're so much stronger than me!"

Tarina turned slightly with a raised eyebrow. "And how do you think I got so strong?"

"You were born with it."

Tarina laughed. "No. I _trained_, Midori. Every day, almost every hour."

"But there must have been something else!" Midori insisted as she followed Tarina around the cage. "I mean, you were a trained shinobi by the time you were five years old! You couldn't have trained that long!"

"Well, I ran away from home when I was seven," Tarina said thoughtfully. "I came from a powerful village that tought me the basics before I was even able to walk. I guess I was born into a lucky place to learn...but I mostly got strength from myself. Self-discepline. I forced myself to keep on going. Then, I met Slicer, Zamu, and Master Atoshi. They helped me with everything."

"Hm." Midori sighed. She wished she could be as strong as Tarina.

"Speaking of which, how did _you _ever learn to use your abilities?" Tarina asked curiously.

"I...I sort of got adequate lessons from my father." Midori said. "But after he passed away, I had to teach myself...that never worked out too well."

Tarina blinked, her expression saddened. "You never had anybody to teach you anything?"

"Well, I _did _have Toshiro...he was my first real teacher before I joined his squad." Midori explained. "But I never really connected to him. Toshiro always seemed to be such a sad and shy person. It's like I never really got to know him...even though he was in love with me..."

"Oh..." Tarina nodded, then jumped in surprise. "Wait! Toshiro?!"

"Yeah." Midori said uncertainly. "Why? You know him?"

"Yeah." Tarina nodded. "I've seen him lots of times. He's a really sweet kid, and he seems to be way happier than he was when he was still on Earth."

"Really? That's good..." Midori smiled. Toshiro probably was happy now because he was finally free from the wretched, torturous world he had been in before. And the suffering he must have experienced while dying...

"Yeah..." Tarina mumbled, then looked over at the group. She cleared her throat loudly and guestured for them to gather. Masami was filing her nails, and Hirokazu was just in the corner, shivering, not really caring.

Everybody scooted over to where Tarina and Midori were, looking ready to start listening and following directions.

"Okay, you guys. Here's the plan. The majority of you are going to stay behind and keep the two guards occupied. They're both weaklings on the inside, so it wont be hard to overpower them if they try and pick a fight."

"How do you know this?" Zamu whispered frantically.

Tarina sighed. "I...I just know the two of them from somewhere, okay? I've been here many times before. I even trained Katsumi during my lifetime. Now, as I was saying, only a few of us are going to leave and set out for Hikaru and Omari."

"Which few of us?" Ryo asked uncertainly.

"That, we'll decide right now." Tarina said, crossing her arms. "I'm definatley not staying here. I'm going to rescue my brother and Omari no matter what. Now, don't think you're unimportant if you end up not getting chosen for the outside mission. If you stay here, then your mission is just as big. Now, what I need for the outside mission is good, strong, older kids who can remain calm and be unafraid to take on any challenge. I need at least three others. Any volunteers before I start picking?"

Everybody just nervously glanced at each other.

"Oh, gosh." Tarina moaned, slapping her hands to her eyes. When she uncovered them, she looked aggravated. "Listen, people. We NEED to rescue Hikaru and Omari. They need us, and we need them. And we_ need _strong people for this who WONT give up. C'mon. Don't be cowards."

Nobody responded and just looked at the floor.

"So, I'm the only one with real guts around here?" Tarina asked, her arms still crossed. "Wow. Look, you guys, if you're not willing to risk your lives out there in the Avalanche Temple, then this is not the right place and time for you."

"I-I'm not a coward," Midori said softly, looking up at Tarina. "I'll go if you want me to. I mean, I don't have a lot to loose, so..."

"Thank you, Midori." Tarina sighed with relief, flashing Midori a grateful smile. She then glared back at the rest of the group. "Who else? We should try to get two more."

After a few more seconds of silence, Masakaru sighed and slowly raised his hand. "Alright. I'll go if you want me to. If we're gotta save Omari and Hikaru, then we can't leave the job up to an idiot who isn't willing to work."

Tarina looked uncertain for a moment. She didn't know this kid. She looked down at Midori.

"Yeah! Masakaru's great for the job, Tarina!" Midori cooed in an excited and hopeful tone. "And I'm not just saying that because I love him. He can _really_ fight and work hard!"

Tarina shrugged, taking Midori's word for it. She turned back to Masakaru and nodded. "Okay then, Masakaru. You're in as well. Now, we just need one more person. Who's it gonna be?"

"You know...what Masakaru said before was right..." Ryo suddenly whispered as he looked up and around at everyone. "We need someone who's willing to work. I'll go, too."

Tarina nodded. She knew Ryo was good for this. Ryo was a very smart little boy and would stop at nothing to complete the mission. He was a coward when he was small, but he was well grown out of that stage. Their team was complete. "Alright, Ryo. You can go, too. Thank you for volunteering."

Ryo sighed nervously and began twiddling his thumbs. He wasn't so sure all of a sudden...he knew that he was in for the battle of his life.

"Okay, we have our team." Tarina said. "Now, as for the rest of you, you're gonna have occupy the Keepers. Make sure they don't end up leaving to go find us. They can't leave the cage for any reason whatsoever. Pick a fight if you have to. Just don't let them out. Entrap _them_. Also, try to steal away their walkie-talkies while they're not looking. Make sure they don't use them to report us, either."

"Right!" The second and larger team replied loyally.

Tarina nodded. "Alright, then. That's all you guys have to do for now. As for me, Masakaru, Midori, and Ryo...I'll discuss the plan with you later after we escape. We have to focus on one thing at a time."

"How _are_ we gonna get outta here?" Masakaru asked.

Tarina sighed. "I guess I'll just have to work up my strength to create an Ultra Supernova Laserbeam. It'll be hard and painful, but it's the only way."

"Nuh-uh!" Midori exclaimed. "What about me?! I could do it!"

Tarina just looked at her skeptically, not knowing how to explain her own refusal. "Well, uh...you see, Midori...breaking out of something like this sort of requires-"

"Special skill! I know! I can do it, Tarina!" Midori said in a hopeful, pleading voice.

Tarina put her hands to her head and sighed. "Listen, Midori...we can't just break out of here on force. We have to break through the ceiling where the hole leads to the original trap to avoid the Keepers from chasing after us right away. The trap hole somehow regenerates quickly, so we have to use our speed and jump out of there as fast as possible- after we strike the metal, of course."

"I know, I know!" Midori cried. "Please!! Just let me try!!"

Tarina groaned. "But Midori...we need someone who's done a jailbreak more than once. ...That would be me. If you screw this up, then it's all over. No offense to you, but-"

"You had to have broken out of a cage for the first time at one point of your life!" Midori protested. "Now, it can be my first break! Pleeeease?!"

Tarina wrinkled her eyebrows. "I REALLY don't know about this, Midori...if you hit the wrong place and break the ceiling open at another spot, then some of the ceiling will fall on us. Not to mention, the Keepers wont have to do any extra work to get out as well. We wouldn't get a head start."

"I know, I know, I know, I _knoooooowww_!" Midori whined loudly in a young Kamichi-like manner, making Tarina shiver in annoyance. Midori's voice then lowered so the Keepers couldn't hear their plan. "Please, Tarina! I just want to prove myself! Give me one chance!!"

"One chance is all we'll get anyway!" Tarina cried. "I really don't know if you should-"

"That's it! I don't care what you say!" Midori screamed out in frustration, disreguarding the fact that the Keepers could hear her very clearly. "Our plan is in action NOW! I'm breaking us ou!" She yelled as she stood up from her spot and started stomping towards the middle of the room, where the trap hole was placed above.

Tarina groaned.

Katsumi overheard and stood up, staff in hand. "Hey! Breaking out?! You're not going anywhere, little girl!" She said as she rushed forward.

Tarina cursed to herself and slapped herself in the head. There went the original plan. Now the Keepers knew what they were up to, and the outside-mission team would have to move ten times faster. If this worked, it would be a miracle.

Midori screamed out in fury and frustration as Katsumi approached her. Midori whipped around and slammed her fist into Katsumi's delicate face. Katsumi clutched her nose and let out a girly scream as she fell back. Hirokazu hurried to the scene to help out Katsumi. The staying team advanced and surrounded Katsumi and Hirokazu, making sure they wouldn't follow Tarina's team.

Tarina sighed as she, Masakaru, and Ryo stood. "Alright, you guys. Looks like Midori's taking charge right now. We had better get ready while we can. Hopefully, Midori can blast us out of here."

"Uurgh...just watch me, Tarina!! I'm gonna be as strong as you someday!" Midori screamed, putting her hands into a series of quick and starnge hand signs. She put one hand behaind her as if she was about to charge a source of energy in her right hand and charged upwards directly on target, leaving a dust of surging energy behind. "Hahnium Helix!!"

Tarina and Masakaru blinked.

A green-and-red colored, glowing helix (made of hahnium, which is an artificial radioactive substance) formed in her opened hand, and Midori slammed her hand into the stony wall leading to the original trap door. The trap metal bars broke open, and Midori rushed through the hole.

"C'mon!! We've got to hurry!!" Tarina screamed and high-jumped into the hole. She was quickly followed by Masakaru and Ryo, who escaped the cage just in time before the broken metal bars regenerated and the cage was closed again.

Midori landed onto the ground, breathless. She looked around and smiled. "Yay, we're out of the cage! Ha!! Told you I could do it!"

"Yeah...you really did..." Tarina said in an awed tone as she stood up and dusted herself off. She helped Masakaru and Ryo up, too, and continued to stare weirdly at Midori. "That was really good. I've never even_ heard _of that jutsu before. Where'd you learn that?"

"I made it up." Midori shrugged. "I just control the chakra and nitrobenzene mixture inside of me to form a spinning helix shape, and for some reason, the spiraling formation works! ...But, I have to admit that my recent attack was much stronger than I had expected it to be. Probably because of the red goo that was added to my chakra stream. That stuff really helps."

Tarina sighed with relief. "I'm just glad we got out of there in time. I really hope the others can hold back the Keepers. Hirokazu may be normal compared to me and Hikaru, but...I don't know what he's capable of at all. He seems to be a scardey-cat, but...I don't know." She looked uncertain.

"What about that one cute girl, Katsumi?" Ryo asked curiously. "She seemed really dainty and weak. You think she would be a threat to the others?"

"Definately." Tarina nodded slowly. "She knows way more than you think she does. I tought her a lot in the past, and I've even fought her a couple times before to escape an eternal slavery here. She's not so easygoing."

_"Grr...I HATE Kat-su-mi!" _Midori quietly grumbled in a childish tone, crossing her arms and starting to pout. _"She tried to take MY Masakaru away! Big meanie beanie..."_

Tarina laughed and patted her on the back. "Don't worry, Midori. You'll get to see your friend later." She then cleared her throat and cautiously looked around, speaking in a low voice. "Alright, you guys. We had better get started quickly just in case it isn't going too well with the others in the cage. Sorry to say this, but we're gonna have to split up into teams again."

"Two teams of two?" Masakaru asked.

"Yes," Tarina replied. "Now, there's gonna be a Team A and a Team B, and we have to refer to ourselves only as that in case anyone is listening in. It'll be just like a code so no spys can find out our names and locate us. Team C will only refer to the people back into the cage. Team D will refer to any type of stranger or enemy. That includes the Keepers. Got it?"

Ryo, Midori, and Masakaru nodded.

"There will be a two-way communication system, even though it might seem a bit strange." Tarina continued. "I can send messages into your head without warning. To respond, you can just talk out loud and I'll sense it, no matter how far away you are. If I send a message, then all of you will be able to hear it and respond."

"Will you have to bite our shoulders to share the same communication connection?" Midori asked nervously, slowly and shakily raising a hand.

"No, Midori." Tarina sighed in frustration. "The connection is already set for use. Anyway, the use for this communicative device in my head is limited. I can only talk to you once in a while, and it uses up my energy if I do it too much. So, don't be upset if I can't talk to you for long. Make your responses short, sweet, and to the point. Understand?"

Everybody nodded.

Tarina clapped her hands together and smiled, something she always did when her instruction-giving was complete. "Okay, then! Now, we have to quickly split up into teams."

Midori raised her hand again. "Tarina, can Masakaru be on my-"

"Nope." Tarina responded flatly before Midori can even finish.

Masakaru snorted and almost laughed at Tarina's blunt reply, even though it wasn't suppossed to be the least bit funny.

Midori's face fell. "But _whyyyyyy_?!"

Tarina sighed. "Look, Midori, I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm doing it because we need an equal amount of strength on each team. For example, do you really think Ryo can work well with me? Our statistics don't match up at all. We have just about the same strengths and weaknesses."

Midori looked upset.

"The same goes for you and Masakaru." Tarina said in a now soft, understanding tone. "You guys are very strong, and Masakaru may have some strengths and weaknesses that you don't have, but not enough. You two are too much alike in the way you fight. Besides, you'll be too distracted because he's your boyfriend."

Midori sighed.

"That's why Ryo is going with you, Midori. And Masakaru will be with me." Tarina said with finality.

The reason why she had done this was because Midori needed somebody super-smart on her side. Masakaru was very smart when it came to common sense, how to keep people safe, and using different attacks against the different elements, but Ryo was better with numbers and would make a better effort to protect Midori because he was infatuated with her. Sure, Midori was infatuated with Masakaru, but Masakaru actually liked her back. It just wouldn't work like that. Tarina also had picked Masakaru to be with her because he seemed strong and a very accurate person. Tarina knew she could be a little too whimsical and indecisive sometimes, but Masakaru's seriousness and stern personality could make them the perfect team.

Midori instantly started to pout, Ryo looked sort of excited yet somehow annoyed, and Masakaru shrugged, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. Expected responses from all three of them. Tarina smiled. This was going to be one heck of a mission.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"You think I was a little harsh on Hikaru and that kid, Cyclone?" Kamichi asked glumly as he and his team walked slowly and aimlessly through yet another hallway. They hadn't been able to find their way back to that glorious enterance arch ever since they had tried to chase down Cyclone. Now, he was starting to regret it and his rudeness towards Hikaru.

"Tssh-yeah!" Kiroku laughed in a cheery-sounding voice. "Definately. You totally whipped that Cyclone dude to shreds,_ and _you left that other kid for the monsters."

Kamichi sighed and shook his head. "But they're the reason why I'm not with the Kingpin Kunais today. I mean, it's not like I don't want to be with you guys, but-"

"We understand," Kouki assured him before Kamichi could defend himself any further. "Hikaru _did_ ruin your future with all that he's done in the past, but don't you think he's sorry for all of that?"

Kamichi shrugged.

"And Cyclone didn't even know what was coming. He never even saw you before. He probably just hears stories about you from Hikaru." Kouki added.

"I know...I feel bad..." Kamichi sighed, rubbing his temples. "If I had felt a bit better, I probably would have helped them out instead of going against them. I mean, you guys have _no idea _how stressed I am right now..."

"Why?" Kiroku and Kouki asked in unison.

"Well...today...well, a couple hours ago, in fact...was my friend Haku's birthday. Well, at least he _used_ to be my friend...but I broke our friendship by mistake." Kamichi sighed. "That's what's making me so stressed out...and the time of the holidays has passed as well. The holidays always remind me of the fun times I used to have with my old friends. I've just been a little upset, that's all..."

Kiroku smiled weakly. "Well...we would love to help you, but there's nothing we can do now but wait. Or at least find that Rainbow Boulder."

"Whaaaaat-ever." Kamichi singsonged in an annoyed tone. then sighed. "We'll go find the stupid boulder, and _then _we're _smashing_ our way out of here."

Kiroku shrugged, and Kouki suddenly looked sort of upset.

Kamichi turned to look at Kouki, sensing the sad energy coming from her. "Hey...what's wrong?"

Kouki shook her head. "I don't know...this place is giving me the creeps. I-It's just too weird and depressing...seeing all of the bodies and all..."

Kamichi kissed her and wrapped his arms around her in a truly loving, protective manner. "C'mon, Kouki...it'll be okay. I promise. We're going to get through this. Kiroku and I are going to protect you, even if something does come up. I'm always going to put you first, even before myself. You know that, right?"

"Yeah...thanks, Kamichi..." Kouki murmured softly. Kamichi was such a nice, caring person, but she could still feel his deeply troubled soul, which made her troubled. Anyway, she was a part of his story, right?

As Kamichi let go of Kouki, took her hand, and started to walk, Kiroku quickly stepped in front of him.

"What?" Kamichi asked.

"Shh. Don't make too much sound. Just look over there." Kiroku whispered as he turned around to look at what was in front of them.

Kouki covered her mouth to stifle a frightened scream, and Kamichi's eyes widened. Kiroku gulped and took out a kunai just in case the situation got dangerous.

A huge, slimy-looking red snake slithered across the floor in front of them quietly, sniffling around in a curious manner. It seemed to have no eyes, but showed a set of at least two hundred razor sharp teeth. It seemed more like a serpant, and it's slick-looking skin seemed sort of gooey and slightly translucent. When it turned towards Kamichi's group, everybody flinched. The serpant thing sniffed around the area a little, and Kamichi could almost guaruntee that the great slimy monster sensed that they were there, even though it could not see.

Everybody stiffened, and Kouki started to whimper.

The snake made a little movement that sort of resembled something like a shrug (even though it had no shoulders), then continued to slither down the next hallway. Obviously, it wanted nothing to do with them.

Kiroku took a deep breath and wiped his forehead.

"Woah. That was one biiiiig red snake. Sure didn't see that coming..." Kamichi whistled, his eyebrows raised.

At that point, Kouki started to cry. "Ooh-hhhooh! Th-This is just too much for me!! It's too scary around here! I wanna go home!"

Kiroku sighed, aggravated now. "Everybody does, Kouki. Now get over yourself and move on."

"Kouki, we're gonna get out of here sooner or later...alive. Like I said before, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? ...If we happen to find the door before we find the Rainbow Boulder, then we'll leave for certain, no matter what happens." Kamichi assured her quietly.

"This is torture!" Kouki cried, tears streaming down her face. "We've got no water or food left, we're running out of batteries for our flashlights, and there's dead bodies and monsters everywhere!! If we don't find the door or at least another person soon in about twenty minutes, we'll all be DOOMED!! I mean, what _is_ this place?! Why are we even here?!"

Kamichi had no assuring response that time. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I don't even know, Kouki. I really don't know."

_**...Ten Minutes Later...**_

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"_Nnnn_-o! No! Noooooo! Let go of me, you barbaric goon!!" Hikaru screamed as the bald, muscular Keeper he had been stuggling with for over five minutes was finally succeeding in dragging him away.

"Kid, please. Let me just do this. And what's with you and saying 'goon' all of the time?" The Keeper grumbled in an annoyed tone. "Just stop it, with your unusual choice of words and fiesty attitude. It's gettin' on my nerves."

"Aaaaaah! Let go of me! Letgoletgoletgolemmegoooo!" Hikaru screeched as loud as possible. His fangs popped out and his eyes turned red. When he felt his skin starting to become warm and a little fuzzy, he started to go into complete hysterics. He started to scream out monsterous, metallic shrieks that even he couldn't understand.

"Calm the heck down!!" The Keeper took out a nightstick and slammed it into Hikaru's chest.

"Aagh!" Hikaru gagged and fell to the floor, motionless and out of breath. His body changed back to normal after a few more seconds. His heart was in his aching throat now, pounding at a painfully fast rate.

"Sheesh, kid!" The bald Keeper growled as he took out a strong chain, and tied it around Hikaru's neck. He lightly tugged on it, but made sure not to pull too hard. "Now c'mon!" He demanded, flipping the nightstick in one hand and firmly grasping the metal chain with another.

Hikaru didn't move. His eyes were wide open, staring up at the Keeper in shock ad fear, like some sort of mistreated dog. He was shaking, and his right arm was twitching madly.

"I said, come on, you stupid demon! Come on! We haven't got all night!" The Keeper reached down and harshly smacked Hikaru in the stomach with the nightstick again.

Hikaru whimpered, too frightened to even clutch his stomach. He had no choice. He had to go. He stood slowly and looked at the floor, his feet spread apart and his entire body shaking. He looked unstable, as if he was going to slip and fall any moment.

"Do I need to tell you again?! Move, or I'll get behind you and whip you until we get to the chamber!" The Keeper yelled.

Hikaru started to walk. He trudged shamefully at first, but then quickened his pace when the Keeper started to move faster and pull harder. Hikaru knew where he was going, and he thought that he deserved it.

_All of that hard work...to become a better person for Omari and Sissy...wasted. _Hikaru thought sadly. _Now it's not gonna be like that anymore. This time, for all I know, the Midnight Demon will just kill me and use my remaining body and powers so he can have something that will hold his form... _He gulped and shivered at the thought.

After about ten minutes, the Midnight Demon's chamber was in plain sight. Only about twenty feet away. Hikaru could sense his prescence and hear the demon's voice inside of his head. He shivered and prepared for the worst. He knew that the Midnight Demon wouldn't be so happy about all that had happened in the past.

The Keeper suddenly stopped after a few more feet and glared back at Hikaru. "Alright. This is far as I can go. Go forward from here and the chamber will soon open. After you enter the chamber, the Midnight Demon will most likely reposess your body, and then you come back out here. After that, I'm taking you back to the boss and putting you in a bigger cage."

Hikaru looked out at the giant, brassy door. It had a large, rumbling lock on the center of the door, keeping the chamber locked. Hikaru trembled and backed away untill he hit the chain's final length and shook his head. "No."

"No?" The Keeper sneered. "What do you mean, no? You have to."

"N-No! I wont!" Hikaru started to cry, shaking his head. "I don't wanna go in there!" He whimpered. Now, he sounded like a frightened little child that didn't want to go inside of a haunted house. 

"Yes, you will!" The Keeper said sternly, yanking onto the chain. "Now MOVE! We don't have alotta time! Get inside of the chamber, or else!"

Hikaru was pulled forward by the Keeper's strength and firm grip on the chain. The Keeper pulled again, and Hikaru was forced forward.

"Now, I'm not going any further! I can't go inside of the chamber with you!! You had better get in there right now!" The Keeper growled, taking out his nightstick again.

"N-No...I'm not going in there..." Hikaru whimpered quietly, tears streaming down his face. "Y-You can't make me..."

"Uuugh! That's IT!" The Keeper growled as he raised the heavy nightstick over Hikaru's head.

Hikaru gasped and started to back up, knowing that he could be killed if the hefty Keeper hit him hard enough. Hikaru started to back up, but tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. The Keeper got ready to bring the nightstick down on his head, and Hikaru squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the horrible pain to come.

The Keeper heavily swung the nightstick at Hikaru. Just as it was about to come crashing down on the poor captive, a fast purple blur slammed into the Keeper from the side and knocked him over.

Hikaru heard a _thump _and the Keeper's surprised cry. He slowly opened his eyes and gasped at the sight of his savior. "_Masakaru!_ Y-You came!! Thank you!!" He screamed breathlessly, overwhelmingly relieved by his sudden arrival.

Masakaru slowly stood up from the ground and shook his head. "Uugh...I'm never doing that again..." He moaned, not aware of the enfuriated Keeper sneaking up behind him with his nightstick at the ready.

Hikaru's eyes widened and he pointed. "Masakaru! Watch out!!"

"Huh?!" Masakaru turned and gasped.

This time, just as the Keeper was about to make his move, five shuriken from about ten feet ahead flew right into his stomach, making him fall over.

Both Masakaru and Hikaru turned to see Tarina standing ahead with a triumphant look on her face.

Masakaru blinked. "Uh...thanks."

Hikaru looked kind of grumpy now that Tarina was here. He sighed and started grumbling to himself. "Tarina. Of _course_. It _had_ to be Tarina."

Tarina approached them, her hands on her hips. "Well, who else did you expect to come and save your butt?"

Hikaru shook his head and looked down shamefully. Every time something came up, he always had to be outdone by his older sister. "I don't know..."

"That's right." Tarina smiled as she bent down and carefully snapped the chain that was tied around Hikaru's neck. She sighed in relief and wrapped her arms around him in a loving manner. "I'm so glad we came in time...thank you, Masakaru."

Masakaru weakly smiled back, relieved as well.

Everybody jumped as they heard a low growl from below, and turned to see what was behind them. The Keeper slowly started to sit up as he removed the five shuriken from his stomach and tossed them away. He hacked out a glob of blood and started to stand, his nightstick still in hand.

Hikaru cried out, stood up, and started to back away. Tarina let go of her brother and glared at the Keeper. "You haven't had enough yet, huh?"

"Nope." The Keeper glared back, breathless. He suddenly started to charge for Tarina at a sort of sluggish rate, his nightstick at the ready. "Yaaaaahh!"

Masakaru stepped forward, but Tarina grabbed his wrist from behind. Masakaru turned and gave her a questioning look.

Tarina smirked with a devious sparkle in her eyes, making Masakaru feel sort of uneasy. "I'd like to take care of this one, if you don't mind."

"Uh...sure." Masakaru shrugged and stepped back.

"Thank you." Tarina said as she let go of Masakaru and went forward a few steps. She stopped and waited for the Keeper to approach her.

When the running Keeper was about to hit Tarina, Tarina calmly dodged it. The Keeper whipped around in surprise, and Tarina punched him in the throat as hard as possible.

The Keeper gagged and fell back, but before he could hit the floor, Tarina grabbed his robe with one hand and whipped out a kunai with the other, holding him in place.

The Keeper's eyes widened and he began to shake. "N-No. Please, Tarina. Y-You wouldn't."

Tarina shrugged. "What makes you think I wouldn't? I'm a demon, after all."

"N-No, Tarina! _You're_ not a demon!" The Keeper stammered nervously. Everybody could see that he was trying to sweet talk his way out of death. "Please don't kill me! You're not a demon! You're fine the way you are. And...your brother is officially free to go. Really!"

Tarina cocked her head and batted her eyelashes. "Are you just saying that because I'm here and about to kill you? If I _wasn't_ here, would you go on to sacrafice my baby brother to the Midnight Demon?"

"N-No! I-I wouldn't. I swear I wouldn't! Now, can you please let me g-"

"You're a liar. I don't like liars." Tarina said simply.

"Okay, okay!" The Keeper cried desperately. "I would have sacraficed your brother to the Midnight Demon! J-Just please let me go!! I beg of you, Tarina! Just have mercy!"

Tarina sneered. "Heh..."

The Keeper just stood there, sweating and shaking. He couldn't be more frightened. Tarina liked how he was frightened. It gave her energy.

"Please..." The Keeper whispered. "I-I'm sorry for bothering your brother! Just let go of me!!"

"I_ could _spare your life and let you go..." Tarina said in a sickly sweet voice, her eyes turning a bright red. and flipped around the kunai in her hand so the blade was facing her victim. "But then again..."

The Keeper whimpered, not daring to move at all, dreading Tarina's next words.

"But then again, I'm not that nice." Tarina said as she raised the kunai and thrust it into the Keeper's chest.

Both Hikaru and Masakaru flinched.

"Aaaauuuggh!" The Keeper screamed, his eyes going bloodshot. Blood started to pour from his coughing mouth, and Tarina then laughed and harshly shoved his half-dead body into the now open chamber door, leading to where the Midnight Demon's spirit was. Tarina went up to the giant chamber door and slammed it shut with ease.

"There," Tarina said contentedly, dusting off her hands. Her red eye color turned back to the normal, sharp silver shade, and she looked calm again. "That takes care of that."

Masakaru gulped, and Hikaru shuddered and made a disgusted noise.

Tarina turned to face them and sighed. "Oh, don't look so frightened. If you want to be good, you have to be scary. And merciless...sometimes. It depends on who it is. I've known that guy for years and he wasn't the kindest of all shinobi, let alone the kindest of all Keepers. I've been wanting to get him for years after killing off some of my old friends. Besides, I have a reputation around here. I'm not going to give Nuboru satisfaction by appearing too kind to kill one of his workers."

"Nuboru?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow as the three started to walk away without any

"Mm-hmm. He's the person who runs this place. Originally, he was one of the Suchikage's most trusted workers. The Suchikage trusted him to keep the Avalanche Temple under control, since it's like a worldwide dungeon. Nuboru took advantage of this opportunity used this place to control demons and entrap slaves. That's why he wanted to capture you upon your arrival. He wants your abilities."

Hikaru scratched his head. "Yeah, I kind of figured that, but...why aren't you captured already? Why don't they want you?"

Tarina shrugged. "Because they already know I can kick their butts. Not that you can't or anything, but they don't know that. They assume you're weaker because you're younger, and they're trying to take advantage of that."

Hikaru normally would have been offended by this, but he had too many questions for Tarina. He didn't want waste time throwing hissy fits over who was stronger. "Tarina...do you know where Omari and the others are?" He cringed, dreading the answer.

Tarina nodded. "Well, I met up with the others, and they all ended up to be trapped inside of a cage. Right now, most of them back at the cage trying to prevent the Keepers from finding us. Ryo and Midori are out of the cage as well, trying to find Omari, who has probably been captured as well."

Hikaru was horrified to hear that Omari was captured, but he knew that Omari would stay strong. He knew that Midori and Ryo would do anything to save her, too. Right now, he had another worry on his mind. "What about Cyclone?! Do you know where he is?!"

Tarina nodded.

"Where?!" Hikaru yelled desperately before Tarina could even get the chance to open her mouth.

"Re-lax. He's fine. Cyclone fell into the trap as well. He's in the cage right now, safe with the rest of the group." Tarina said. "He's a little worried about you, too, but don't worry. Nothing will happen to him."

Hikaru breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Tarina started to quicken her pace. "Alright, you guys. That took less time than I thought, so it's best that we try to find Midori and Ryo so we can help them." She said. She quickly sent a message inside of her head, asking Midori and Ryo where they were. She shuddered, feeling a small fraction of her chakra being drained by the ability.

Masakaru noticed Tarina's bitter reaction. "Are you sending them a message?"

Tarina nodded. "I'm asking them where they are."

"What did they say?" Masakaru asked.

"...Midori said she doesn't know." Tarina sighed.

Masakaru shook his head and sighed. "Ugh. Just ask them what they see. What's it like in the area they're in?"

Tarina stayed silent for a few more moments, sending another mental message towards Midori and Ryo, her eyes squeezed shut. She opened them and sighed. "Midori said it's dark."

"Wow. Dark. They must be in a _reeeeeal_ bizzarre part of the temple." Hikaru snorted sarcastically from behind.

Masakaru looked agitated. "Idiot! It's dark everywhere! She needs to be more observant! This is wasting time _and_ your energy, Tarina. Can't we do anything to track them down right away?"

Tarina shook her head sadly as she hung up the communication line. "I don't think so. We'll just have to root around the temple until they show up somewhere."

Hikaru looked confused. "But what if we find Omari before we find Midori and Ryo?"

"Then we'll just have to break Omari out first. That was our original mission plan. Our mission wasn't to find two little lost kids who were suppossed to be saving their leader." Tarina said. "And I'm not just putting Omari first because I love her. Midori and Ryo were suppossed to be taking care of themselves. ...And hopefully, they will. I'll send them another message in about ten minutes."

Masakaru nodded.

"Tarina..." Hikaru said softly, catching up to her. He had another question to ask. He was twiddling his thumbs.

"Huh?" Tarina looked at him.

"I...there's this lady I met..." Hikaru said. He wasn't sure how this would sound. "...Her name is Masami. She's one of the Keepers around here, but she seems to have an obsession with me. I mean, she even brought me food while I was trapped inside of a cage for hours. Do you know her?"

Tarina looked down.

"What?" Hikaru asked, noticing Tarina's new uncomfortable attitude. He grew tense when he saw Tarina's exposed charm shudder inaudibly. "Y-You know her, don't you?! Who is she?! H-How does she know me?"

"Hikaru...this may seem a bit shocking, but Masami is..." Tarina started slowly, then cut herself off.

Hikaru blinked. "What?"

Tarina shook her head and sighed. "Nevermind. I-I don't know. I'll tell you when I can think of a way to explain it to you."

"B-But...okay." Hikaru started to argue, but then stopped, knowing he shouldn't push it any further. The Masami thing seemed to be a very sensitive topic for Tarina. Maybe she didn't want to tell him who Masami was in front of Masakaru. Maybe now just wasn't the right time.

After they walked a few more seconds in silence, Hikaru had yet another question for his older sister. He didn't know why he was so full of questions today. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen Tarina in person for so long and was excited. "Hey, Tarina..."

"Huh?"

"When I was walking to the Avalanche Temple...I heard a voice." Hikaru said, feeling funny. If this ended up to be another peculiar topic that Tarina was uncomfortable talking about, then he was done asking questions.

Tarina looked up, seemingly okay about answering to this one. "Was it the Midnight Demon's?"

"Well, actually, it was two voices." Hikaru said nervously. "One of them was the Midnight Demon. The other voice was...well, I don't know. It sort of sounded depressed. It was familiar, but I was in so much of a trance that I couldn't make out who's voice it was. They called me 'brother'. Was that you?"

Tarina's eyes widened a little and she looked frightened. "U-Um..."

Hikaru sighed and put his hands to the sides of his head. "I'm sorry, Tarina. I keep on asking the wrong questions, I guess. If it bothers you that much to answer me, you can just write it down or tell me later."

Tarina turned to Hikaru and looked uncertain. "It's not that, it's just..."

"What?" Now both Masakaru and Hikaru looked curious to know.

Tarina gulped. "Hikaru...have you ever thought about...the rest of our biological family?"

Hikaru just stared at her. "I..." He obviously didn't understand.

"This is _so_ hard to explain..." Tarina groaned to herself before continuing. "A biological family. You know. Parents and siblings and grandparents and stuff."

"Yeah...?" Hikaru said. "I...I don't think about them much. I mean, you're my sister, and I'm happy with what I have. Besides, they're probably all dead by now, right?" He asked with a small, nervous laugh.

Tarina decided to give up here. This wouldn't work, espeically since the Midnight Demon's chamber wasn't too far away. Hikaru would get too excited. Besides, there was no way Hikaru would understand about Hirokazu and Masami. She would have to let him see for himself. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hikaru. It's just too complicated. This is something you'll just have to figure out yourself."

Hikaru looked down, a little annoyed by this. He sighed. "Fine."

Tarina reached over, and hugged him tightly. "C'mon. Get the crestfallen look off of your face. You'll know sooner or later. Everything will be fine. We'll save Omari and the others and get out of this creepy place."

"Mm-hmm. Thanks for saving me and all, but I don't think we're gonna get out of her any time soon." Hikaru grumbled.

"Yeah..." Masakaru agreed quietly.

"Aww, don't be so negative, sweeties!" Tarina said in a mocking cheery voice, pulling Masakaru into the hug as well. "We're going to find them, okay? I promise you that."

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"Midori...it seems even darker than before..." Ryo whimpered, clinging to the older girl in fear. "I don't think we've been through this hallway before. I'm scared."

"Don't be. I'm here to protect you." Midori assured him, giving him a light hug. She took out an extra flashlight and flipped the switch on. She now had one in both hands. "There we go."

Ryo sniffled.

Midori sighed. "Listen, Ryo, I know you don't trust me as well as you would trust Tarina, but...I'll do anything I can to keep you safe. Even though we're teammates on a mission, I'll put your safety before anything else. I promise."

"B-But we're suppossed to put Omari first," Ryo said gloomily. "Tarina and Masakaru already found Hikaru. We're not even close to Omari. We don't have any idea where we are. We're lost and hopeless...I feel like such a loser..."

"C'mon, Ryo! We haven't failed yet!" Midori said optimistically. "It's only been a few minutes since they found Hikaru. It's not like we've been lost and hopeless for hours. We're just a little...off track, that's all."

Ryo jumped and pointed ahead, suddenly seeing some light in the distance. "L-Look!"

Midori squinted and gasped excitedly. "It's a door!"

They both ran to the mysterious door they had encountered. It was a regular wooden door, but with a clear window in the middle of it. On the window, there was a label. It read, 'Enterance To Control Room'.

Midori curiously peered into the window. It led to a set of stairs made of stone, which led to the basement. That was probably where the Control Room was. The staircase ceiling was lit by a few hanging lanterns.

"Hey! M-Maybe this is where we can find Omari!" Midori said.

"Why would Omari be in the Control Room?" Ryo looked at her as if she was stupid.

Midori shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe we can ambush the people inside of the room and demand them to tell us where Omari is."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that would work. You can't just ambush a bunch of people we never even saw before. We don't know how big and strong these guys could be. We don't know if they're even a threat! I mean, for all we know, nobody could even be in there right now!"

"Well, I'm going to find out!" Midori said as she grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. She made a face and tried again. "Huh. It's locked!"

"I'm shocked," Ryo grumbled sarcastically to himself. His frightened and upset feelings were now washed away by his agitation towards Midori.

"Maybe I can knock the door down." Midori said as she started to back up and charge another Hahnium Helix attack.

"Midori, wait!" Ryo cried, running in front of her. "Breaking the door down like that's just gonna attract attention! We don't want that! We need a quiet, clean enterance."

"Why?"

"Because we don't know what could be lurking around or sleeping in these hallways." Ryo said. "It could wake up or hear us and...attack us!"

Midori snorted. "Yeah, okay. I highly doubt that anything would come and attack us if we made a little noise."

"Yes, it would, Midori! You have to be cautious with unknown situations like these! Believe me!" Ryo insisted.

Midori turned around to face the wall. She then raised her fist and struck it as hard and as loudly as possible. The whole hallway that she and Ryo were in rumbled and made a gong-like noise. Ryo cringed at the loud noise and covered his ears untill it faded away.

Midori took her undamaged fist out of the wall, turned back around, and shrugged. "See? Nothing happened."

_"Midori!!" _Ryo hissed wildly in frustration. _"Don't do that! You HAVE to be quiet! You'll disturb the creatures that live around he-" _Ryo stopped all of a sudden and gaped at what was soundlessly coming up behind Midori.

"Why? What's the big deal about the stupid creatures that live here?" Midori laughed. "It's not like it-...hey, what's your problem?"

Ryo gulped. "Midori...don't look behind you. J-Just run."

Midori cocked her head. "Run? What do you mea-"

"Go. Run. _Now._" Ryo said in a quiet, grave tone as he still stared past Midori. His eyes were huge and unblinking. He was shaking all over.

"Ryo, wh-what's your problem?" Midori looked a little uneasy now. There was a peculiar sinister energy lurking behind her, and she felt very warm.

"JUST GO!!" Ryo screeched suddenly as he made a break for the next hallway, screaming.

Midori blinked, then shuddered in disgust as she felt a very warm, slimy substance running down her whole body. She turned to see what was giving her the slime-bath, then gasped. "_Oh_..._my_..._aaaaaaahhhhh! _ Ryoooo! Wait for meeeee!" She screamed as the huge red serpant in front of her opened it's jaws and tried to take snap at her.

Midori jumped out of the way just in time, but slipped onto the red, gooey stuff from the dragon that had dripped onto the floor. She skidded into a wall and fell. Midori looked up and saw that the eyeless serpant started bounding towards her at an amazing speed. Every footprint it made left a trail of red goo. The goo was also coming off of every other part of the serpant's body like sweat.

_So that's where the goo came from..._ Midori realized, but didn't have much time to ponder on that. She rolled, got up off of the ground, and ran into the hallway that Ryo was running in. The blind red serpant roared and came after her.

Midori screamed as she saw that the giant snake was catching up to her. The dragon's mouth suddenly filled up, and it then spit out a huge burst of red goo in Midori's direction.

Midori cried out in fright and dodged the first blast of goo. Just as soon as she was done dodging the first, the monster spurted out another long string of sticky, glowing red goo.

Midori tried to jump out of the way again, but ended up being caught by the second spurt of goo. She ended up being stuck to the side of the hallway wall by her left hand and hair. She pulled as hard as she could to get free, but this proved impossible. Even though she was doomed for lunch now, she was thankful that the red goo didn't burn her due to her new body composition. It would have burned her hand...and ruined her hair (even though it was already ruined).

"Ugh...this wont turn out too good..." Midori moaned to herself as the red serpant flung itself at her, with it's mouth wide open.

Midori squeezed her eyes shut as a huge, maroon-colored hole of darkness surrounded her. A huge clump of gooey saliva washed over her as the hole she was entrapped in tightened and pulled her downward. Her body felt like it was being squished by two leaky water beds. At that moment, Midori knew that she was in the process of being swallowed.

The swallowing led to Midori's sudden lack of oxygen. It was just red goo and saliva traveling down a long tube leading to the monster's stomach. Midori didn't know if she could take much more. She was suffocating, but knew that she'd end up somewhere very soon. Even though she knew she wouldn't live long at this rate, it was better than being chomped to bits.

Midori was suddenly dropped into a large, pinkish sac that contained many acidic substances bubbling around the edges. The stomach. She grimaced and dusted herself off, too disgusted to even consider the shock she was in right now. She had been eaten alive, and was now trapped. She would soon be digested and gone forever.

Midori landed on a large, partially digested bone to keep herself from burning in the stomach acid pool beneath her. Her eyes were widened and her heart was beating double-time.

First thing was first. Midori needed to clean herself off. She was covered in the serpant's saliva and quickly put a Radioactive Sheild over herself to cleanse her body and burn away the bacteria-filled snake venom.

When Midori was done, she gulped and looked around nervously for a hole or something. Anything. Midori looked up. The tube leading to the stomach was closed for some strange reason, and probably wouldn't open up again until the serpant swallowed something else. She guessed that this wouldn't happen again for a while.

Midori sighed and sat down for a few moments, trying to keep herself calm. There was nothing to do now. She was dead meat, unless the serpant ate something else and the tube opened up again. Then, she could easily slip out of the monster's body.

Suddenly, a bright idea popped into Midori's head. She smiled and stood from the ground, putting her hands into a couple signs. She knew it would take a lot of strength for this, but she could use another Hahnium Helix to get herself out. She had never used the jutsu so much in one day, but it had gotten much stronger ever since she had swallowed the red serpant slime.

"Alright, let's try this out." Midori said to herself as she got ready to break through the stomach and outside of the monster's body. "Hahnium Hel- ooww!" She cried out as a long, spinning stick smacked her in the head and knocked her down.

Midori shook her head, groaned. She stared in wonder when she saw the stick suddenly whirl around in midair and return to it's owner like a regular boomerang. Midori turned halfway looked over at the person who had struck her. It was a young boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old. He had dark-looking eyes and spiky, light brown hair. He firmly held the staff beside him and was wearing a hooded black robe without a spot of goo on it. Definately a Keeper.

"Uh...h-hello..." Midori stammered nervously, waving lightly over at the kid. Her head was ducked a little, an involuntary move of submissiveness. She wanted no trouble at all. Reguardless of how she acted, though, she knew this wouldn't turn out very well.

"Welcome, intruder." The young Keeper said in a fairly matured voice, staring at Midori in a very stern way. It was obvious that he had no intention of making friends with Midori. "Welcome to the belly of the beast."

_**...Meanwhile...**_

Omari was miserable.

She was now entrapped inside of a bright white room that took some time for her eyes to get used to. Omari's arms and legs were now held apart from her forcibly by some white-and-grey, technological rope-like thing. There were also electronic, circular devices attatched to her forehead, chest, and cheeks, which was making her itch with annoyance. These things tying her up proved indestructable. They wouldn't break under the pressure of the raw unused chakra that Omari was putting against the devices. She guessed that the devices were used to hold her in place and measure out her power levels or something.

Omari groaned as she turned her head as far as she could. She saw a tall white computer screen and machine beside her, which was attatched to a few cords leading to the devices put on her. On the computer screen, Omari squinted to see the small outline of her body and where her chakra points were. An interesting diagram, but a miserable situation. She felt like a guinea pig.

She didn't even know how the Keepers had managed to transfer her. She had thrashed and fought, but they had just poked her in the arm with a little needle, and she had almost instantly fallen down, completley immobilized. After that, they had dragged her away and hooked her body up on this weird chakra-observing system. They treated her as if she was a worthless, mutant animal, and she didn't like it one bit.

Omari had no idea of what was going to happen to her next. She guessed that they were going to drain every last drop of her energy away and throw her sucked-dry weakened body into some dirty crowded corpse pit. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but it was a likely possibility.

Her ears perked up when she heard somebody approach the big white door in the corncer. Omari watched as the brassy doorknob turned, and the door was pushed open to reveal Nuboru, looking as smug as ever.

Omari glowered over at him. "I'm not letting you have my abilities."

Nuboru looked crestfallen and cocked his head in a curious manner. "Why not?"

"You're not having them!!" Omari growled loudly, starting to squirm. "And you're going to let me go RIGHT now! I have a team to protect!"

Nuboru just snickered happily, and Omari could see in his eyes that he knew something that she didn't.

A horrid thought crossed Omari's mind and she gulped, her eyes widened. "Wh-Where are my teammates?"

Nuboru just kept on laughing.

Omari just remained still, her eyes getting bigger by the second. "Y-You didn't hurt them...d-did you?"

Nuboru smirked. If he said something that would get her upset, then there would be easier access to her power. It wouldn't be a dangerous operation, either, with the new machine working. "...They're dead."

Omari's mouth dropped open, sweat trickling down her forehead. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard this, and she didn't want to believe it. _"Wh-What?!"_

Nuboru shrugged, his eyes closed, his mouth still fixed into a contented grin. "They're all dead. Your teammates are aaaaallll gone. The Keepers took care of every one of them."

_"No. Y-You're lying..." _Omari's voice was shaking, tears starting to pour from her eyes. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't believe it. They were way stronger than that...weren't they?

Nuboru knew he had to be careful at this point. His lie was working, and even though Omari was in absolute shock, she was still on the verge of not believing it. He had to make up a few scenarios to make the lie believable. He had to dig up some of the appearances of some of the other intruders. "Heh...I saw every one of their faces when their death came along. A real pity. Especially the little one with the pink hat..." He said, tsk-tsking in a sympathetic manner.

"M-Midori?!" Omari cried. "_No!_ Wh-What?! What happened to her?!"

"She froze to death in her cage," Nuboru sighed, but was smirking all the while. It warmed his heart to see the look on Omari's shocked and sobbing face all coming from a simple lie. "After being half-torn apart by our wild tracker dogs and thrown into a cage, she had barely any warm clothing to protect her. She lay in the freezing cage for hours, bleeding and bleeding. Finally, she just...died. Quite sad, actually."

Omari just looked at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, which had begun to sparkle. _"No..." _Her limbs were vibrating, she was gasping for breath because she was crying so hard...poor Midori...

_C'mon...c'mon... _Nuboru grinned secretively, silently urging her to get mad and for her markings to flare into the little chakra magnets that they were.

_"Nooo!!!" _Omari screamed out in anger and frustration, tears streaming down her cheeks. She gave up all hope. If Midori and the others were all gone, what would be left? So was so mad...

All of her teammates who had counted on her, their smiling, beautiful faces believing in her...and now they were gone.

Omari continued to scream her cheeks stained with tears and her cheeks beginning to tingle and they felt like they were going to pop out. She knew what was going to happen, and she dreaded it. She might as well be a monster, now that she didn't have anyone left to teach her, right?

"Yes...YES!!" Nuboru screeched, his eyes widening and glowing with happiness as the three golden markings on Omari's cheeks popped out into spiky, whisker-like, sparkling little things that increased her power by at least a hundred times.

The machine instantly came into effect and reacted to the sudden burst of dangerous power Omari had just given off. The metal things attatched to her cheeks tightened and started to suck power from her. Omari screamed even louder in pain and frustration.

Nuboru didn't care about the, agony-filled, earsplitting scream coming out poor Omari's mouth. He only cared about what he wanted.

Finally. His dream would come true.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"Aaaaaaahh!" Came a muffled, nasaly scream from the distance.

"Huuh?" Tarina looked over her shoulder along with Masakaru and Hikaru. She scratched her head. "Hm. That's funny. I wonder who that was. You don't think it could be-"

"Waaah! T-Tariiiinnaaa!" Ryo came running and screaming from the next hallway, turned the corner, and rushed to her. He threw himself into her arms, sobbing and gasping for breath.

Tarina's eyes were widened. The kid was definately spooked, and probably for a good reason. His heart was thumping so fast that Tarina could even feel it against her bones with his little body huddling her arms. "Wh-What is it?! Why have you come back?"

"I...I-I...waaahh!" Ryo continued to wail, his face a bright and tired red. "M-Midori...and...the...m-monst- I...left..." He couldn't even speak because he was shaking and crying so hard.

"What?!" Tarina took him out of her arms and held hiim in front of her. "What happened?! Where's Midori?!"

Ryo, finally starting to calm down, sniffled and wiped his nose. "Sh-She...I...I can't tell you...she..."

"Yes, you have to tell me! You HAVE to tell me what happened to Midori!" Tarina shook him, eyes wild with worry and frustration.

"Sh-She...she got e-eaten." Ryo said carefully after calming down some more, then bursting into tears again after seeing the horrified looks on his teammates' faces. "It's all my fault! I didn't protect her or wait for her! I'm sorry...I was just too scared!"

Masakaru and Hikaru just stared, in shock, and Tarina gasped and dropped Ryo to the floor. _"E-Eaten?! By what?!"_

Ryo made a shaky guesture with his hand, still crying. "I-It was big...and it was red...and...it was shaped like some sort of giant snake or something!! It had red goo dripping off of it! I-It got Midori!! And it's all my fault..."

Tarina sighed and slapped her hand to her head. "Aw, man...it was _that _monster?"

"Wh-What do you mean?!" Masakaru cried fretfully. "What are we gonna do?! Will she be okay?!"

"Of course not, you goon!" Hikaru yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. This whole thing was just too much for him. Midori was gone. The rest of them were doomed. "She got eaten by a red serpant! How can she be okay?!"

"I...I don't know..." Masakaru said, then started to cry in a panic.

Tarina looked down. "...No. She'll be okay."

Everyone stopped sobbing and looked at Tarina. "What?"

Tarina looked back up at her teammates with a new look of hope on her face. "Midori's gonna be okay. I know it. The serpant only ate her because her body fluids contained the red goo that it thrived off of, so Midori's scent attracted it. It only swallowed her to regain the red gooey fluids that it had lost, so I'm sure it didn't chop her up or anything."

"So?!" Hikaru cried. "She'll still be digested! She's trapped! There's no way out!"

"Yes, there is. You see, there's a young Keeper that works and lives inside of the snake. His whole body fluids are like a regular human's, so he's vulnerable to any type of poison. But, he is allowed to control where the goo and digestive acids go by moving his hands. His ability is kind of like Midori's, but he definately has more flexibility in what he can do."

"What's that got to do with getting out of the snake's body?" Masakaru asked.

"Yeah! The Keeper being inside of the snake makes it even worse for her! He's gonna totally cream Midori! From what you're telling me, this Keeper's practically indestructable if he's got some kind of goo on his side like Midori!" Hikaru said frantically.

Tarina shook her head and looked defiant. "No. We have to believe in Midori. She'll find a way to decieve that Keeper instead of picking a fight. I know she will."

Ryo, Masakaru, and Hikaru just stayed silent, looking down. All three of them wanted to believe, but...it just seemed to unreal. This was an impossible mission, and it took more than Midori's level of strength to defeat a Keeper, despite Tarina's confidence. They weren't so sure.

_**...Turn To The Next Chapter!!...**_

_**A cliffhanger, I know! I mainly did it just to aggravate all of you. :P Oh, well. Guess you'll have to wait a while!! Hah-hah! (I'm just kidding. The next chapter will be out in a flash. I know this one took a while, but still.)**_

_**Alright. Now that we've got the next sequence of events out of the way, we can talk about something that deeply irritates me. Everybody is misjudging the character's appearances! ...Well, at least two or three people I know are doing it. There is one thing that I know some are confused with: TARINA'S HAIR IS NOT RED, PEOPLE! Tarina's hair isn't even close to red, and it doesn't go red whenever she releases her demon! That's not how it goes! I mean, medium-length red hair was my original idea for Tarina, but I never said anything about that in any chapter of the First Impression OR here. The people who get mixed up are people I know personally, so none of the online readers hopefully have no confusion. And HOPEFULLY, you know that Tarina's hair is long and sky-blue colored, with a cutesy little bang sticking out in the front towards the right side. Okay, you may not have known that last part unless you've seen the drawings (which you probably haven't), but still. Her hair isn't red.  
**_

_**Aaand...I have nothing else to say at this point. I'd just like to say thanks for coming this far and reading up to this point if you've read the whole series, and that's basically it. The next chapter should be out soon, so keep checking back!**_


	5. The Ultimate Mission: 5: The Poison Kiss

_**...The Untimate Mission: 5: The Poison Kiss...**_

_**Uh...hi! Thanks for coming here to see what happens next...it means alot:) Anyway, lucky for you, I have no boring and/or bothersome comments for you to go through before you find out what happens next in the story. I'll just save the boring and/or bothersome comments for AFTER this chapter! Aren't I nice?**_

_**Happy Reading, and Happy Holidays:)**_

"Get BACK, you _jerks_!" Katsumi screamed, swinging her huge staff around in a circle in a threatening manner to the intruders. Hirokazu stood behind her, breathless. They couldn't find a way to get through the crowd of shinobi purposely surrounding them. They had to catch Tarina and her squad before it was too late.

Cyclone and the others had been holding off the Keepers in Cage 1 for a long time now. They hoped that Tarina, Midori, Masakaru, and Ryo came back with Omari and Hikaru. Especially Cyclone.

As soon as Katsumi turned around to take a swing at Zamu (who was advancing towards her threateningly), Cyclone tripped her from behind and snatched away her small walkie-talkie just as she was about to hit the floor. Katsumi cried out in surprise and pain as she landed onto the hard ground. She gasped when she realized that her reporting link-like device had been stolen away from her.

Katsumi sat up and whipped around to face Cyclone. "Heeey! Give that back to me, you ratty little runt!"

Cyclone stuck out his little pink tongue at her as he smashed the walkie-talkie into the ground with his foot, automatically shattering it into peices.

Katsumi gasped. "Stoooop! I'll get in trouble!!" She said, making a grab for Cyclone (who was still rubbing the already broken walkie-talkie into the floor with his foot).

"Too bad!" Cyclone dashed out of the way and poofed back into his normal shadow-slave state. Masami shreiked and pointed at the change, while Cyclone made a run for Hirokazu, who was trying to fend off Tomozaku.

Cyclone ran up to Hirokazu from behind, high-jumped up, and snatched the Keeper's walkie-talkie from his back pocket, then slammed it into the ground. Cyclone laughed as he broke it with his foot. "Mission accomplished! Haha-haa!"

Hirokazu whipped around in surprise, nearly tripping himself on the black silky robe that covered up his entire body. "Hey!" He cried out in that shy, squeaky little voice of his. He whipped around to face Masami with a horrified look in his big grey eyes. "They broke our walkie-talkies! Now what?!"

Ignoring Hirokazu's fretful cries, Masami stood up and glared at the surrounding group, but holding her staff in a way that told them she didn't want a fight. "Alright, now that you've taken our stuff...talk! What do you want from us?!"

Slicer smiled evilly, his sword still drawn. "Well, to be honest, we don't want you two tattletales to report Tarina and the others. We're not willing to let you out. So, basically...you're trapped here with us now. Either agree to stay here or die."

Katsumi snorted, holding up her hand and examining her nails all the while. "Huuh. What makes you think you can kill-"

Hirokazu quickly stepped in with a worried look in his eyes. "No. Don't listen to Katsumi. We'll stay as long as you stay, but we wont let YOU escape, either." He said, trying to look feirce.

Slicer laughed at the kid's shaking voice. "Fine. We've got ourselves a deal. You'll be treated and kept here as we are. Nobody leaves until Tarina's return and until this whole thing is settled. Got it?"

Hirokazu nodded as he gave Slicer a firm, glove-covered handshake. "But that doesn't mean that we're friends." He said.

Before Slicer could reply, Katsumi quickly stood up and shot Hirokazu an annoyed and appalled look as Cyclone's group finally backed off. "Hirokazu! We could have taken them on! Why'd you have to go and make a deal with them?!"

Hirokazu shook his head. "No. We couldn't have. If we did and we lost, we would be dead meat. And if we won and got rid of the intruders, then that would be even worse. Tarina and her team would return and...well, I think you'd know what would happen then."

Katsumi looked down and shuddered. "Uh...yeah. Tarina would shred us. Good thinking." She said in a shy, low voice. She then looked up adoringly at Hirokazu and blushed in admiration. "You're so smart!"

Hirokazu scratched his covered-up head, but nobody could tell if he was blushing or not. "Uh...thanks?" He looked a little creeped out.

Katsumi hugged him. "Don't look so worried! We'll get out of this mess as soon as that stupid smart-aleck Tarina gets back from the upper floor."

Hirokazu shivered at the thought of Tarina and the Sunrise Demon. He really wasn't sure that he wanted her to return.

"C'mon." Katsumi let go of Hirokazu lightly tugged on her comrade's arm. She spoke in a friendly tone now that the intruders had backed off and were resuming their own activities. It was just she and Hirokazu now. "Now that the dispute's settled, we can stay away these losers for now and wait together in the back."

Hirokazu shook his head slightly, looking down. "I...can't..."

Katsumi looked upset and her eyes grew big on purpose to make Hirokazu feel bad. "But...I thought we were..."

"Uh...we are!" Hirokazu did a fake bright smile behind his cloak. "I like you alot. It's just that..well...I-I'm not feeling good today, and..." He started to stammer nervously.

Katsumi sighed and looked away before he could even finish.

"What's wrong?" Hirokazu asked worriedly.

"Oh, it's nothing..." Katsumi said, still not looking back at Hirokazu. Katsumi and Hirokazu had been the closest thing to boyfriend and girlfriend for years, and Katsumi had always loved him for his personality alone. She had never seen his face before, and she had no idea why he never showed it. Maybe he was hiding a deformity. Maybe he was just shy. Either way, Katsumi really didn't care.

The whole flirting with Masakaru thing had been a farce, despite Midori's reaction towards it. Katsumi often did this with younger male intruders, in hopes of luring them into doing whatever she said. Her beauty was a useful tactic that came in handy, especially with the more stubborn boys. Nevertheless, Katsumi always stayed true to Hirokazu in her heart. When she had first came to work at the Avalanche Temple, she had a crush on Takeo, who was almost always inside of the red serpant's stomach, but she never saw him much. That was when she had met Hirokazu, who had been instructed to be her work partner.

The only feature of Hirokazu's that Katsumi had been able to see was his sad grey eyes (which everybody could see, so it wasn't very special). They were big and beautiful eyes, and Katsumi loved to stare into them. Katsumi loved Hirokazu because he was so kind and gentle, but he seemed always afraid to open up to her and show his true face. It was depressing. Hopefully, now would be the time to see his face.

Hirokazu quickly took a glance at Katsumi's sudden aloof attitude and felt horrid. He looked away now, too. "I-I'm sorry, Katsumi...I just..." He put a gloved hand on her shoulder.

Katsumi turned to him with a questioning look in her eyes. "Why wont you show me your face?"

"B-Because I just-" Hirokazu started to slowly stammer, then shook his head and started to walk away to the other side of the room to hide the tears coming out of his eyes. "I just can't, okay? I-I'm sorry, Katsumi."

Katsumi sighed.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"Ugh...I can't connect with Midori!" Tarina cried out in frustration as they walked on, rubbing her temples furiously.

Hikaru snorted, but with a sad look in his eyes. "I don't think it's gonna work if she's been eaten. ...I hate to say this, but maybe Midori's...finished."

Tarina gasped. "No! She has to be alive!"

When Hikaru shot his sister a _don't count on it_ look, Tarina sighed and started to quicken her pace. "C'mon, you guys. We've gotta move faster!"

"Where are we going?" Ryo asked.

"I'm taking the three of you back to the cage." Tarina replied flatly. "I'm going to find Omari and Midori by myself. This will increase our chances of winning over the Keepers back in Cage 1, anyway."

Ryo looked deeply hurt and rejected. "So, we're not on the mission anymore?"

Tarina shook her head. "Nope. You'll just be with Team B. Listen, guys, I just can't risk losing any more of you. Midori and Omari are already lost somewhere. And I can't have you klutzes slowing me down. ...No offense."

Ryo and Masakaru didn't seem offended, but Hikaru looked absolutely enraged by what Tarina had said. "What?! I can't come with you because I'm a _klutz_?! B-But I love Omari! And Midori's-" Hikaru started to scream.

"Ehh, shut up." Tarina grumbled, waving her hand dismssively as if she was shooing away a fly. "You'll get your chance to fight later on. I promise."

"B-But what if something happens to you?! You never know!!" Hikaru said in a warning tone. "At least take one of us with you! One with courage and strength and wisdom!"

Tarina looked down and considered this for a moment, a finger hooked on her bottom lip in a thoughtful manner. "Hmm...maybe you're right, Hikaru. Maybe I _do_ need someone else to help me out..."

"Exactly!" Hikaru yelled excitedly, wanting to be picked more than anything.

Tarina looked up and smiled. "Okay, then. That decides it. I'll take Masakaru with me."

"Alright." Masakaru shrugged, not seeming the least bit excited.

_"Whaaaaaat!?" _Hikaru's jaw dropped in shock and he started to stammer uncontrollably. "B-B-but I-I thought...you- no, I meant...but I..."

"Hmm?" Tarina looked over at Hikaru innocently. It was obvious she was trying to hide the smirk on her face. Of course. She didn't choose him on purpose just to poke fun at him, as usual. "Is someone jealous?"

"Uh, _yeah_!" Hikaru yelled frantically as if Tarina knew this already (which she did). "I didn't mean for you to take Masakaru! I meant for you to take _me_! If I had known that you weren't going to pick _me_, I wouldn't have even _cared_ if you went by yourself!"

Tarina shrugged. "Too bad. I'm taking Masakaru to find Midori and Omari, and that's final. Besides, our original mission was to find _you! _We found you, and now we're going to take you back to safety. I'm not going to risk losing you again. You're too reckless and clumsy. Being underground will keep you at bay from the Midnight Demon's chamber, anyway."

Hikaru looked down and sighed.

Tarina patted his head. "Hey, don't be so sad. I said you'll fight soon, right?"

"I _guess_ so..." Hikaru mumbled in a childish-sounding voice, his arms crossed and his shoulders slumped. "But I've never gotten the chance to fight alongside you...ever! I've always fought _against _you!"

"You'll get your chance. Don't worry." Tarina sighed dramatically, already tired of Hikaru's whining. She was actually pretty happy about dropping Hikaru and the others off. All of them were really nice, but such bothers!

She hoped they would reach the cage soon.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"Heh, heh...uh, hi..." Midori waved nervously as the Keeper of the serpant was staring her down menacingly. She didn't know what to do or say when faced with some kid in the stomach of a red gooey beast.

"Who are you?" The Keeper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I-I'm Midori..." Midori said nervously. "Wh-What's your name?"

"My name's Takeo, Keeper of the red serpant. But you really shouldn't be caring, because you wont know me for very long." The Keeper said flatly.

Midori gulped. The way he had said that made her feel uncomfortable.

"So, your Midori, huh?" Takeo asked plainly, his staff at the ready. He slowly stood from his kneeling position and started to come towards her. "You wouldn't happen to be one of those intruders I've heard about, are you?"

"Who, me?!" Midori asked in a fake high-pitched, innocent voice. "N-No! I-I'm not an intruder! Honest!"

Takeo glared at her. "Liar."

"H-Huh?!"

"If you don't work here or have a satin Suchikage's pass sewn to your clothing, then you're an intruder. I don't see the pass, and I don't see the black robe. Therefore, you're an intruder. You're an enemy." Takeo said with finality.

"I-" Midori started to make up another lie, but then stopped. There was no use. This kid looked pretty sharp for his age. She laughed nervously. "Uh...listen...I may be an intruder, but I'm not an enemy. I...I'm not here to make trouble. I promise. Now, can you _please_ show me the way out of this place?"

Takeo shook his head. "No. I don't let enemies out. I fight them to the death and I leave their corpses to rot and burn in the serpant's stomach acids." He said in a dead monotone, pressing a button on his staff. A sharp, silver spearhead poked out at the top.

This kid was a freak. Midori flinched and gulped at the weapon, but knew that she had to keep her cool. "I-I already told you...I'm not your enemy. Y-You don't have to kill me."

"Yes, you are an enemy. You're a Hidden Mist Villager, not to mention an intruder who was probably after the Rainbow Boulder." Takeo said.

Midori didn't respond. She didn't know how.

"Now, come here and surrender so I can make this quick and easy for you," Takeo said, guesturing with one hand for Midori to come and pulling out a tranquilizer with the other. "If you don't make this hard, I can put you to sleep and lay you to rest in the acids. Then, you wont feel a thing."

"B-But I don't wanna die!" Midori screamed out in fright at the sight of the loaded tranquilizer needle, nearly slipping on the giant, wet rotting bone she was standing upon. "W-Why do you have to kill me?!"

"It's my duty to get rid of those who trespass. I can't let you get out of here and make another attempt to steal the Rainbow Boulder. I'm sorry." Takeo said, but not in a very apologetic tone. He was now only a few feet away from Midori. He was wearing a special type of shoes that kept him from sinking down into the acids.

"N-No! Please!" Midori cried.

Takeo sighed, scratching his head of fuzzy orange hair. He reminded Midori of Toshiro, but this kid was way too serious and his hair was too short. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

"M-mm!" Midori shook her head with her mouth clamped shut like a little girl not wanting to take her cold medicine.

Takeo shrugged. "Fine, then. I guess we're just gonna have to do this the _hard way_!" He suddenly lunged for Midori with the tranquilizer in his hand, in a move to grab her arm.

"Ahh!" Midori cried out and jumped out of the way just in time, clinging onto one of the stomach walls. She was about to power up a Hahnium Helix to forcibly burst out of the stomach without a fight with the Keeper, but she didn't have any time since Takeo quickly chased after her. Midori jumped out of the way and instantly found that the sides of the stomach were sticky with fat and debris, so she was able to literally bounce off of the walls and grab onto high places with her hands.

Midori gasped with horror as she realized that Takeo could walk on walls with his special shoes and not just cling to the sides with his hands. Takeo zoomed forward at an amazing speed, then struck Midori in the head with the other side (the non-sharp side) of his staff just to knock her over.

Midori fell. She was terrified that she would land in the acids, but landed onto a large floating bone instead. She instantly began sliding off of the giant slimy skeleton peice, but caught herself just in time. She plopped herself down onto the bank of the giant bone and sighed in relief when-

Takeo's staff came crashing into her side from behind, and this time, it was with the spear. The spear instantly sliced into Midori's stomach, and she uttered out a cry of pain as she slid off into the stomach acids below.

Midori landed into the dangerous, chemical fluids that were suppossed to be burning and digesting her, but they ended up not doing anything to her. She just started to float on her back, blood and green goo gushing from her side. Her heart was beating in her throat when she realized when she was still alive. It was agony to reach the surface. She grimaced when she looked down to see more blood gushing from her wounded side.

Takeo stopped in his tracks when he realized that Midori hadn't sunken and burned into the stomach acids. His eye twitched, and he was in shock. "T-That's impossible. That was suppossed to kill you. Wh-What _are_ you?!"

Midori turned around in the disgusting pool she was floating around in, and slowly grabbed onto a nearby, not answering. She could barely move, now that her side was cut so badly. She was breathless, drenched, wounded, and angry, partially because Takeo had tried to kill her, and because she regretted being so reckless and ending up in the belly of a big red snake. She couldn't lose, but Takeo was way too fast for her. There had to be another way out of this.

Midori, still clutching her side in hopes to stop the flow of blood, looked over at Takeo. Takeo was still pondering over how Midori could have survived the attack.

Takeo's eyes traveled towards her side and they widened at the sight of what was coming out. "Ah-ha! So_ that's _it. Your body's contents are mainly made out of that nitrobenzene-chakra mixture, isn't it? You must have stupidly swallowed some of the red goo from around here, too. That sort of energy makes you immune to any type of chemical fluids. Pretty convenient, if you ask me."

Midori was shaking, and not because she was angry. She was cold and tired and losing body fluids. It was just too much for her. It was amazing that one blow with Takeo's spear had made her helpless. She needed to think of something, and fast.

Takeo smiled evilly, holding his spear in a ready position and slowly starting to come towards her. "However, no matter how convenient your ability may be...you're still wounded and unable to move very well. I can still kill you."

Midori suddenly collasped to the ground, groaning and clutching her side. She didn't know what else to do.

Takeo was now standing over her triumphantly but with a remotely sad look in his brown eyes. He raised the spear over Midori's limp, helpless body. "I'm sorry, but I'm just doing my job."

Midori was about to squeeze her eyes shut and brace herself for the pain, but a brilliant yet evil and disgusting plan popped into her brain. Her eyes widened, and she held out her hands in a way telling Takeo to halt. "W-Wait! Just a minute!"

Takeo put the spear down and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Midori gulped. What she was about to do was absolutely the most dirtiest trick she could ever think of. She would hate herself for this if it worked. But if it didn't, she would be dead meat. "D-Did anybody ever tell you..."

"What? Tell me what?"

Midori's pained expression instantly turned to puppy-eyed and flirtatious. She tried her best to make her voice sound lulling and babyish, as the boys had always loved. "Did anybody ever tell you how cute you are?" She said in a slow, sweet voice in which she had been perfecting for years.

Takeo blinked, not changing his expression at all. "Excuse me?"

Midori was prepared for this. She knew it wouldn't work on the first try. This Keeper looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, so there was a good chance in luring him if he had good enough taste. "C'mon, cutie, you know what I said."

Takeo looked freaked out and took a tiny step back. An expected response, but not a good one. This didn't look like it was working.

Normally, Midori would have been instantly successful in luring a young boy into a trap like this. She didn't understand why Takeo was so skeptical. It was very possible that he had low self-esteem about his appearance and believed that Midori was just teasing with him.

But, no. That couldn't be. Takeo was a cute, well-groomed kid who looked like he had an adequate amount of self-confidence as well as some muscles. There was no way he could be doubting himself on this. What if he saw right through the trap?

Midori slowly stood (despite the horrible pain in her side) to face him and smiled lightly. Takeo turned away from her, obviously disturbed by this. Midori started to play with his hair from behind, and Takeo flinched blushing a little.

Midori flinched, too. She knew that Takeo would give in to her love soon and eventually allow her to kiss him, which was when she could eject poison goo into his mouth from hers to kill him. It was a horrible way to die, but it was the only way for Midori to free herself.

She would be so ashamed of herself. After all of these years of getting what she wanted because of her looks and charm...it just didn't seem right. Midori knew that she was confident and concieted enough to know that this little devious plan of hers would work. It made her hate herself.

Midori wiped the small tear that had slipped from her right eye and lightly touched his shoulder. It brought great pain to her. "What's the matter?" She cooed in Takeo's ear, catching herself before her voice cracked.

"Ugh...just...stop. Stop, okay? I'm not in the mood for your games." Takeo said in a stern voice, whipping out his staff's spearhead again and got ready to threaten Midori with it. "You're NOT going to decieve me with that kind of-"

"Y-You wouldn't hurt _me_, would you?" Midori asked softly, making huge frightened eyes and biting her lip. Even she found her own behavior disgusting, but nobody else would know except for Takeo- who would soon be dead.

"I-" Takeo cut himself off, then suddenly whipped around with a threatening look in his eyes, but the look was flickering and he was blushing. He shakily raised the staff over his head, ready to kill Midori. "N-No. No more. You're just a silly little girl. I'm not giving into you."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Midori asked in a sickly sweet voice, hoping that she wasn't going too far with this. "It's not like I was gonna hurt you or anything..."

Takeo blinked as Midori went around him and faced him. She tried to touch his muscles, but he pulled away and turned slightly. Midori looked upset, and Takeo gulped and blinked. Takeo knew what was coming for some strange reason, he sensed the danger, but there was somehing about her that made her oddly attracted to her in sort of a magical way...he was under so much pressure...

"C'mon, Takeo. I like you, and I know you like me." Midori said, trying not to sound too desperate. She gently took his wrist and brought him over to face her. She was less than an inch away from him now.

Takeo was shaking, not resisting, but not accepting how close Midori was...

A few moments later, Midori's lips finally touched his. Midori wrapped her arms around him, pulling Takeo in an even deeper kiss, quickly summoning up the red-and-green radioactive goo and injecting the poison into his mouth.

A few moments later, there was a shudder. Takeo didn't grimace or pull away or scream as the poison substance mixed in with his blood and instantly spoiled and froze every single organ in his body. Just a little shudder and that was it. The death had occured within seconds of the stuff entering his body. Takeo suddenly got all heavy and limp in Midori's arms, and a shiver was sent down Midori's spine in realization of what she had just done.

She had killed him.

Midori had killed another person.

For some reason, Midori started to cry. Not sobbing or bawling...just a small, inaudible weep. Something that Takeo deserved getting. He deserved to be mourned for. She gently pulled away from him and set his peaceful-looking body onto the carcass peice she was standing on.

Midori just stared down at him. Kissing him made her feel so dirty and strange. It was a guy she didn't even know. That was probably his first kiss. At least he died doing something that the young Keeper probably enjoyed. But, it just seemed so fake judging on the way Midori had planned it out. It wasn't really _real. _Takeo died not knowing what hit him, which made Midori feel awful.

She was a murderer. Sure, she had killed two others before, but she was hysterical then. She was so young and it had been so unintentional when she killed her own family members. Now, _this _was intentional _and_ well planned-out. It was wrong, but...it worked.

Midori couldn't stand having to look at him for much longer. She couldn't stay. She had to find the others, anyway. With one last look at poor, dead Takeo, Midori turned and walked to the other, more tender side of the stomach. She would have to bust her way out. She powered up a strong Hahnium Helix inside of her hand after making a few hand signs, backed up a little on the peice of unknown she was standing on, and blasted right through the stomach of the red serpant.

As she did it, her vision blurred from all of the goo and blood spurting all over her face from the impact on the gooey, snakelike beast that had swallowed her. After a few more seconds, she landed right onto the ground, lying on her back. The red serpant was instantly killed from the attack/breakout and lay next to her, in a thirty-foot long, motionless, messy heap.

Midori suddenly tasted clean, wonderful oxygen again, and not the heavy, moist stuff she had been breathing in when she was in the beast's stomach. Midori wondered if breathing the stuff could have affected her health, but she was too tired to think about that now.

"Uugh...I...I feel awful..." Midori mumbled to herself. And it wasn't just the heavy feeling she was feeling for killing the young Keeper through pure deception. She was literally a glowing, bloody mess. Her hair was a wreck, and her side was still deeply wounded. She needed a medical ninja, and quickly.

_Might as well start walking... _Midori thought miserably as she slowly sat up from her painful laying-down position, and used the wall for support to shakily stand up. "Ooh...my side..." She moaned, grabbing onto the wall again to hold herself up. Her palm was lightly burned after using all of those smoking-hot Hahnium Helixes.

A tear fell from Midori's eyes and landed onto the moist, rocky, uneven floor tile she was standing on. She was so hopeles. She couldn't even get over one person that she had to kill, and now she couldn't move because her side hurt.

"Huh...maybe I am pathetic..." Midori mumbled neutrally to herself as she struggled to stay standing on her wobbly legs. She glanced over at the gigantic monster she had just killed and weakly smiled to herself. It was a smile of self-pride. Finally. "Well, maybe I didn't do _so_ bad..."

Midori started to walk. Painfully. Slowly. Aimlessly. She stumbled every few steps. She didn't know where she was going, or who she was trying to find. Midori was losing a few drops of blood every step along the way, but kept on going. She really hoped that she didn't have any more run-ins with gigantic beasts with dangerous yet gullible Keepers inside. She had to find someone soon, or else this could be bad.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

"Here we are," Tarina said in a fake merry voice as she put one foot down on the fixed tile. When it quickly opened up to reveal the cage, Tarina turned to Ryo and Hikaru and guestured for them to go in.

"Alright. Good luck, Tarina." Ryo gave Tarina a small hug and jumped back into the cage with Team B.

_"Aww-haaww!" _Hikaru whined loudly in a baby voice, stamping his foot, not making a move to go back into the cage. "It's no fair, Tarin-uuh! I wanna go with you!"

Tarina glared at him, arms crossed, but she still had a partially amused look in her eyes. "Dreams die. Get used to it."

Hikaru started to pout, his face getting all red. It looked as if he was about to throw a hissy fit any second now.

Tarina laughed at him. "What a big baby you are. Just because I'm asking you to get into a hole and keep your fellow teammates safe, you're about to throw a tantrum. Puh-thetic."

"Awww!!" Hikaru threw his head back and howled in frustration, pulling at his hair in a childish manner. "This is so aggravating! How come YOU get to go save Omari and Midori and be the hero?! You're always the one who gets to do all the _cool_ stuff!"

Tarina shrugged, arms still crossed. "That's because I'm cool."

"Wha-?! What about me?! I'm cool, too, right?" Hikaru asked in a squeaky, desperate voice.

Tarina made a weird, indecisive face and tilted her hand side-to-side to make the _so-so _sign. "Eh...you're gettin' there, I guess..."

"What?!" Hikaru looked absolutely shocked and outraged that his sister basically called him uncool.

Tarina laughed and pulled her humiliated little brother into a hug. "Hey, hey. I'm just kidding. No hard feelings, okay?"

_"Hmph." _Hikaru looked grumpy as Tarina cuddled him goodbye. "So, I guess this means I don't get to do anything on this mission, right?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Hikaru? You'll get your chance!" Tarina said with a big sigh. "I've got alotta business to take care of here, and it's unsafe for you. I'm only doing this because I care."

Hikaru fell silent for a moment, shrugging. "...Well...I guess you're right..."

"See? I know what I'm talking about." Tarina said as she let go of him and kissed his forehead. "Now, I'll see you later, okay? I love you."

Hikaru smiled weakly, scratching his head. "Uh...yeah. I love you, too. I'm sorry if I'm a bit too childish sometimes. A-And thanks for looking out for me, okay? I probably would be dead by now if it weren't for you."

Tarina warmly smiled back. "That's what I'm here for."

Hikaru sighed and looked down. "Good luck. Come back soon with Omari and Midori, okay? A-And don't get hurt or anything."

"I'll try not to." Tarina nodded, then checked her watch quickly before looking back at her brother. "Well, I had better get going. I'll see you later." She gave him a quick second hug.

"Bye..." Hikaru said quietly, trying to hide the frustration built up inside of him. He loved Tarina so much, but...she was just so much better than him and so much of a better person. He knew he would get his chance, but it still didn't seem right. He was jealous of her personality and strength, and wanted to know if he really had a reason to be.

But, then again, Hikaru was only who he made himself out to be. He could be anything he wanted, right?

Hikaru wasn't so sure. He suddenly felt the need for proof. He needed to know whether he was worthy or not worthy. Just as Tarina was about to zoom off, Hikaru caught her wrist from behind, stopping her.

Tarina turned as Hikaru let go of her. "What?"

Hikaru gulped, but did his best to seem brave. He wanted this more than anything. The question had just popped up in his head, and needed out the instant it came into existance. It was so abrupt, but he needed it. "...Tarina...I need to ask you something real quick..."

"What is it?"

"I- will you fight me later on?!" Hikaru blurted out.

Tarina raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Hikaru stood up straight to face her with the most serious look he could muster. "I...I want you to fight me when you get back, Tarina. For real."

Tarina blinked, a little confused by this sudden request. It was just so weird...she hadn't expected something like this to come out of Hikaru's mouth so soon. "You mean to say...you want a real battle with me?"

"Yes. Even if you end up killing me, I want to battle with you. I don't want you to hold back. You can realease all of your power on me. I don't want you to stop fighting until I'm dead or unable to battle. I just want to fight you, okay?" Hikaru said in a shaky voice. "I-I've gotten stronger. I think I'm ready."

Tarina just looked at him for a second with something mixed with awe, admiration, and wonder. She then gave him a small, friendly smile as she started to turn away again. "Sure, Hikaru. I'll fight you."

Hikaru's eyes widened. That was quick. He had expected to engage in a long, hard debate with Tarina over what was safe and what was not safe for him, but it didn't happen. "S-Seriously? You're fine with that?"

Tarina shrugged, making it like it was nothing. "Seriously. I'll fight you if you want me to. It's your decision. You want the real thing. Everything I've got. ...You sure about that?"

Hikaru nodded. "It...it would be an honor to battle you. Really."

Tarina looked touched for a moment, then smiled again as she started to walk away. "Well, okay. If you say so, I'll fight you when I return. I've been wanting to test out your new skills for a while now, anyway."

_Yes!! I'll finally get to have a fair battle with Tarina! _Hikaru couldn't help thinking giddily. He knew this would be one fight of many as well.Hikaru smiled an identical smile to his sister's and waved at her. "Okay! I'll see you later!" He called out as he finally jumped into the trap hole leading to Cage 1 without an attitude.

Tarina sighed to herself, and started to quicken her pace before nodding to Masakaru, who had been standing on the sidelines the entire time. "C'mon, Masakaru. Let's go."

Masakaru stepped away from the wall and started to follow Tarina, eyeing her with curiosity. They were now running at a fairly quick pace, with Tarina an inch or two ahead. Masakaru struggled to keep up and talk to Tarina at the same time. "You're really gonna fight Hikaru?"

"Sure, why not?" Tarina shrugged.

"You're gonna give it all you've got?"

"Sure, why not?"

"What if Hikaru ends up dying?" Masakaru asked without a trace of worry in that default-monotone of his.

Tarina looked blank. "If Hikaru ends up dying, then Hikaru ends up dying. There's nothing I can do about that. I mean, of course I would never try to hurt or kill him on purpose, but...it would hurt him even more if I refused to battle with him."

"Hm...you've got a point there..." Masakaru scratched his chin, thinking about it for a moment, then looking up at her. "I think it's a good idea. I mean, if you ask me, it's simply a 'who's-better' contest, but it'll do you guys some good, right?"

Tarina merely laughed. "I dunno. It's about time he asked, though."

"Huh?"

"I knew he always wanted to fight me. He wants to conclude whether I'm better than him or not." Tarina said casually. "He just never thought of how badly he wanted it. Or, he could have always wanted to fight me for real but never had the guts to ask me."

"B-But you _are_ better than him," Masakaru said in an insisting tone. "Don't you think it'll be a little dangerous if you fought with him for real?"

"No matter what happens, he wont regret anything. Besides, there was never a rule that said he couldn't back out." Tarina said.

Masakaru half-shrugged. "I suposse you're right..." After a few moments of thought, he looked back up at Tarina. "But what if that was just on impulse? Maybe he really doesn't want to fight you. Maybe it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing because he was so jealous of you."

Tarina laughed. "Jealous? Spur-of-the-moment? Those two don't mix when it comes to me and Hikaru's relationship."

Masakaru didn't get it for a moment, but then sighed when he did. Of course. Hikaru had been jealous of Tarina all of his life.

Tarina was obviously stronger, faster, and had more smarts and experience than Hikaru. In Masakaru's opinion, Tarina also had a slightly cuter personality, even though some people would think otherwise. But, when it came to the who's-better-looking scale, Hikaru and Tarina were about the same, but that had some exceptions to it since they were both different ages and genders.

Tarina now had her hand to her chin, looking as if she was trying to figure something out. "I don't understand why Hikaru was so envious. To be honest, he's better at a lot of things. He acts as if I'm so perfect, not even considering how he's special in his own way."

Masakaru looked skeptical. He snorted. "Name one thing that he's better at."

Tarina blinked and didn't say anything.

Masakaru laughed, amused by Tarina's stumped and sorry expression. "See?"

Tarina shook her head. "No. There's way more than two. I'm just trying to think of a good example to give you."

"Oh?"

Tarina looked over at him with confidence as they ran on. Masakaru wondered if she really knew where she was going. "Hikaru's better because his heart's much warmer than mine."

Masakaru looked at her funny. "What? You're saying he's more heartfelt than you? More sensitive?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"It sure doesn't seem like it."

Tarina wrinkled her eyebrows. "Didn't you see the way I killed that guy back there? I felt nothing for him. I can't feel anything half the time when I hurt people? I'm like a monsterous machine, and I hate it. Hikaru's true self, on the other hand, isn't cold enough to just let a death go uncared for."

Masakaru looked uncertain. "But you don't seem cold at all. You love all of your teammates. Hikaru's the one who seems colder."

Tarina sighed. "Hikaru simply _acts_ cold because he automatically assumes that nobody likes him, due to the fact that he had the Midnight Demon trapped inside of him. He would still show mercy to an enemy. As for me, well, I can't show mercy. It's just something I can't help. Sure, I love my teammates, but as for everything that seems like an enemy...I feel the need to kill them."

"...Oh." Now, Masakaru looked unnerved, but then shook himself out of his suddenly uncomfortable mood and decided to ask Tarina a question. "Hey, Tarina...where are we headed to? Do you even know?"

"Of course I know," Tarina replied smoothly. "I know where we're going. I know where they would keep Omari. It's the same place where I was once captured."

Masakaru's eyes widened in wonder. "You were captured here before?"

Tarina nodded. "Yep. But, that was only a few months after I ran away and before I knew about my true power. You see, Master Atoshi had taken me in after I had run away, finding me sleeping on his doorstep after a rainy night. I didn't know where I was going. He had started to train me after taking me in as his student, and when he sent me here on a normal mission, I was captured for experiment. I had no idea why until I accidentally unleashed my power to protect myself and escape. After I had gotten back from the mission, I asked Master Atoshi about my true power. He told me about who I really was and trained me to hold back whenever possible, and that led to me meeting Hikaru. But, the point is, I was captured here before for experimentation. I know where to go." She said with a small laugh, realizing how off-topic she was getting.

Masakaru nodded, understanding. "Oh. Well, I can't really relate because I don't have any super-special powers of my own, but my little brother Raidon was born with a Kekkei Genkai. He was captured and brought somewhere for experimentation, but...the Hidden Mist trackers eventually got him back."

"Where is he now?" Tarina asked out of plain curiosity.

Masakaru looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, Raidon ran away a few years ago after my parents considered giving him up to the scientists. He's a normal kid now, only he takes care of himself. I don't think he knows anything about being a ninja. He should be about nine or ten years old by now. I visited him about a year ago, I think. He's fine now, though. I tried to help him out and take him in for a while, but he wont let me."

"Hmm. Interesting." Tarina murmured to herself, then suddenly stopped in her tracks, holding a hand out to catch the surprised and stumbling Masakaru.

"Wha-?!" Masakaru caught himself before falling over and straightened himself out. He looked over at where Tarina was gazing. "Uh...i-is this where Omari is?"

Tarina shook her head slightly, not removing her eyes from the huge door she was intensely staring at.

Masakaru felt uneasy all of a sudden. There was some type of strange glow, a weird, invisible energy that was coming from Tarina and the door. He looked back and forth from Tarina to where Tarina was looking at, and gulped. There was a large, charm-shaped lock on the colossal door, and it resembled the golden-yellow one on Tarina's forehead.

This didn't look too good. Masakaru had heard Tarina talking to Hikaru about protecting him from the 'chamber'. Maybe, since they were brother and sister, they both had a chamber that had to do with the demons that had once lived in them.

"Uuh...Tarina?" Masakaru's voice cracked as he gently started to pull Tarina back from the Sunrise Demon's chamber. "M-Maybe we should go the other way..."

"Don't..." Tarina murmured softly, in a trance. She pulled away from Masakaru, gently pushed him aside, and started to step towards the chamber. She looked as if she wasn't in control of her actions- like a robot.

Masakaru flinched when he saw that blood was starting to stream down Tarina's face from her trembling charm. He had seen the same happen to Hikaru before, and he knew that it wasn't for a very good reason.

Just as Masakaru was about to try to pull Tarina away from the chamber again, a loud, shrieky voice came from the distance. "Heeeeeyy! You guuuuys!"

Tarina was immediately shaken out of the trance and looked to the right of the vast hallway. "...Midori?"

Masakaru gasped as Midori's limping form came into clear view. "Midori! Y-You're alive!"

"Just barely..." Midori muttered, but loud enough for the two of them to hear. "H-Hey...you mind giving me a hand?" She asked in a desperate tone, grasping onto the wall for support.

"Oh!" Tarina's eyes widened as she saw the blood that was dribbling from Midori's side. She quickly rushed to help her along with Masakaru.

Midori laughed weakly, tears of pain and joy still streaming down her face. "I'm so lucky I found you guys...good thing you were standing nearby. ...Oof!" She then tripped over her own shaky feet and fell to the ground, moaning, blood still gushing from her wounded side. It was amazing that she hadn't died of blood loss.

"Midori! How bad are you hurt?" Tarina asked frantically, kneeling down to see her wounded friend. She eased Midori down onto her back when Midori had started to sit up. "No. You've gotta lie down. Here, let me see. How deep is the wound?" She placed a finger on Midori's side to get an estimate on how deep it was, and Midori shrieked out in pain.

"Ahh! It burns! Don't touch it!" Midori screamed, starting to squirm.

"Stop!! I have to touch it, Midori!" Tarina said in a flustered manner as she took out a kunai and gently cut the side area of Midori's shirt. The cloth was stuck to the wound and even Tarina flinched at the sight of this. "I can't heal you unless I touch it. It'll hurt for a moment, but you're just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it." She said as her hand started to glow a warm, blueish color.

"I...okay..." Midori sniffled and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself.

"Remember: Don't think about the pain. Think about what you'll do after you're all done with this mission," Tarina said in a forced gentle voice as she placed her healing hand onto the weeping Midori's side. "When you guys are done here, you can all take a nice rest at where me and Zabuza and Haku live. It'll cleanse your physical and mental being. Think about now nice that'll feel." She said through clenched teeth, trying to ignore the good-looking human blood all over Midori.

"T-Tarina..." Midori whispered. "Wh-Why is your head bleeding...?"

Tarina sighed and looked away as she took her hand away from Midori's side, her charm still trembling. "Uhh...I, uh...it's a long story. I'll explain later." She said as she stood from her kneeling position.

Midori suddenly found that she felt one-hundred percent better, smiled, and stood as well. Her side had been completely healed, and in only a matter of seconds. She hugged Tarina in pure joy. "Thank you, Tarina!!"

Tarina cleared her throat in an uncomfortable manner and patted Midori's back. "Uh...yeah. I'm just relieved that you're alive. So...you beat Takeo, huh?" She said, trying to make quick small talk so she wouldn't seem suspicious to Midori or get too excited by the chamber or blood on the floor. She felt like such an outcast all of a sudden because of her difference.

Midori looked down, seeming very sorry all of a sudden. "Well, I didn't exactly, uh...well...I sorta..." Tears started to fill her eyes, and Tarina could see that she was making a strong effort not to cry over what she did to Takeo.

Understanding, Tarina nodded and shushed her. "I get it, Midori. It's okay. It had to be done. You can talk to me about it later if you want." She said as Midori pulled away from the hug, wpied her nose, and turned to Masakaru.

"Hey, Midori..." Masakaru smiled slightly, starting to open his arms. He knew he was going to regret this, but hey, he liked her.

Midori gasped and ran into his warm yet awkward hug. "Masakaru!!" She squealed happily, actually lifting him from the ground and squeezing him with great effort and affection.

Tarina stood, watching the two of them embrace each other, laughing to herself. Kids were so cute. At Midori's age, she would have wished that Zabuza had welcomed her with a hug and had the emotional strength to put up with her overaffection.

Masakaru chuckled lightly and uncomfortably as Midori finally put him down and kissed him on the cheek. Masakaru scratched his head. "So...I gather that you're okay?"

"Mm-hmm!" Midori replied happily and hugged him tightly again out of sheer merriness. "Oou, I love you _so_ much! I thought I'd never see you again!" She cried dramatically as Masakaru continued to laugh in amusement and discomfort.

"Uhh, guys..." Tarina said from a few feet away, scratching her head. "I hate to interrupt your lovefest, but...we've still got business to attend to. And don't worry; you'll have time to make out later." She said without a trace of emotion or sarcasticness in her voice.

_"Whhhaaaatt?!" _Both Masakaru and Midori screeched at the top of their lungs, looking over at Tarina in shock.

Tarina shrugged and looked as if she didn't understand why they were so embarassed. "What? All's I said was that you guys could make out later. I'm not judging you or anything. I was a teenager before. I know what it's like to be in love. I'll only make fun of you if you're trying to hide your love. Obviously, you guys enjoy expressing it."

Both Midori and Masakaru blushed, just looking at her in a still-shocked manner. They were done hugging, now that Tarina had made it so noticable and obvious that they loved each other. They didn't even expect Tarina to pay attention, let alone comment on their behavior.

Tarina sighed and then spoke in her formal businesslike manner. "Alright. Now that our greetings are out of the way, we can go forward to our new game plan."

"_New_ game plan?" Masakaru raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. We're gonna change our course again, and we don't have much time." Tarina said sternly. "Since finding Midori was easier than we thought it would be, we didn't use up any tools or resources, which is a good thing. We're breaking up into two groups."

"Two groups?!" Masakaru cried. "B-But there's three of us! One of us will have to go alone!"

"Don't worry. And it's gonna be me." Tarina said. "Masakaru, I'm trusting you to bring Midori back to the cage, and you're going to stay inside of the cage so you wont have to get lost. I know it's a little aggravating, with me doing these constant cage drop-offs, but this was unexpected. I thought we'd be tired out from saving Midori, but she ended up coming back to us by herself unharmed. She needs an escort back to the cage. You okay with that?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine." Masakaru nodded. "So, I'm just going to take Midori back to the cage, and I'll stay there as well?"

"Mm-hmm." Tarina hummed as she took out her black bandanna and wrapped it around her head (which had stopped bleeding and cleaned itself off). "And I'm going after Omari by myself. No help this time. I can't risk you guys getting hurt when I go get her. ...You know the way back to the cage, right, Masakaru?"

"I think so." Masakaru replied as he turned and looked around a bit at his surroundings. "I just go down, right, left, and then right again, am I correct?"

"Yup. You guys'll be fine. I'm trusting you two to travel as fast as possible, get to the trap door, and go _directly into the cage_. No getting lost, and no distractions, okay?" Tarina said as she unwrapped her robe to reveal a regular black battle outfit. She threw the robe aside before taking out her weapons and stuffing them into her large pockets of her pants.

"Right." Masakaru nodded obediently.

"Alright, then. You guys had better get going before the late night guards start coming out and checking the temple out. I'll see you soon." Tarina said.

"Okay." Masakaru said as he started to quickly lead Midori towards Cage 1.

"Buh-bye, Tarina!" Midori called out girlishly, turning halfway and waving frantically to her.

Tarina smiled weakly and waved at her before turning around in the other direction and zooming off at full speed, without another look at the Sunrise Demon's chamber. She had to stay away from it for now. She could only summon the demon's power if she ran out of energy.

She smiled to herself. It felt so good to be alone. To be herself again.. She felt so alive running at full-speed with dangerous, invisible energy whipping around her body freely like it had been when she had been an unstoppable little monster who spread chaos through entire towns just for the heck of it.

The memories flowed through Tarina's mind like a cool, cleansing tidal wave. Those innocent little beings back at Cage 1 had no idea that the hardheaded, sprightly leader of the Kingpin Kunais had been so free and once before. She remmebered how she had single-handedly pounded Nuboru's troop a few years back and laughed. What losers. They probably didn't know what was coming to them now in return for messing with Omari.

Tarina was almost guarunteed that she would go back. She would use up the power sooner or later just so she could use it. So she could be herself.

"Huuh?!" Tarina's head suddenly perked up as she sensed somebody ahead of her. She looked up to see an adult night guard stand in front of her, pointed staff at the ready. The guard obviously knew who Tarina was, shaking from the bloodthirsty look in her bright red eyes.

No, there was more than one guard. There was a few standing behind him. Tarina stopped in her tracks, looking around, her old instincts coming back to her. She absolutley loved this. There were dozens of them!

Yes! Dozens of worthless, delicious guards, plump with blood and body nutrients that the old Tarina would love to feed off of. She couldn't wait for them to charge at her with her best weapons. She wouldn't wait.

She didn't wait.

With a wild hyena-laugh, Tarina charged at the closest guard in sight, who appeared to be about her age. He cried out and slashed at her with the spearlike end of his staff. Tarina was stabbed in the shoulder, but laughed, whipped out a kunai, and severely attacked the horrified guard, punching, kicking, killing, hurting...

Her amazing taijutsu-related skills and movements were so fluent and quick, and her tremendous amount of power started to build up. Tarina recognized her own sudden burst of insanity, but couldn't control it. She was forced to embrace it, and as soon as she gave in, she liked it. Her fangs and claws weren't popped out yet, and she wasn't even close to going cannbibal, but she knew it would happen soon if she kept drawing blood from the night guards.

As soon as the first guard was knocked out and slumped against the wall, Tarina instantly looked up from her first victim and at the rest of the poor suckers who were about to get pummeled. She smirked evilly and they all took a step back.

One small, frightened guard quickly took out his walkie-talkie and submitted one frightened yet true message. "S-Sir..._she's_ back."

_She. _Tarina loved the way they described her. It made her feel so powerful. Like a demon. It made her many new senses tingle. It made her bones vibrate with pure energy. A firey, chakra-empowered glow now surrounded her, making her hair run wild. She didn't realize how much she had missed this.

One bold night guard, who seemed to be an older man, picked up his staff and pointed it towards Tarina. "No! I'm not letting this happen again!! This demon shall die for sure and will _not_ lay a claw on Master Nuboru! We're not going down without a fight! Who's with me?!"

The rest of the guards let out a huge battle cry, then instantly started to charge towards Tarina. "Yaaaahhh!"

Tarina smiled, her vision and senses seemingly improving by the millisecond. The chakra inside of her was running wild, making her have goosebumps and making her body feel as if it was about to burst from this delicious, energized feeling...

She now impatiently waited for her prey to come, the victims, the fresh blood, the...

_Fun._

_**...Go To The Next Chapter! o.o'...**_

_**I know, I know. The ending of this chapter was aggravatingly suspenseful and rushed. Personally, I found that ending a little creepy. Well, when I wrote this, it was on a Friday night (OR early Saturday morning; it was like 1 AM!) and I just felt like putting a little insane twist from Tarina's point of view. Makes it more interesting, in my opinion. Tarina's not 'bad' or 'evil' now, either. She's just letting the past get to her and the Sunrise Demon's trying to take her again. She's got no other choice. I still think she's pretty cool!!**_

_**Also!! What will happen now that Hirokazu and Hikaru are put inside of the same area? Will Hirokazu reveal his true identity? Well, you're just gonna have to wait and see. I'm the only one that knows, and I'm not tellin' until the next chapter, so...ahhah:P**_

_**Thanks for reading and coming this far!! The next chapter should be out soon!!**_


	6. The Ultimate Mission: 6: The Revealing

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 6: The Revealing...**_

_**Hi!! Uuh...well, since I don't wanna give anything away at the beginning of this exciting chapter, I really have nothing to say, except that I hope you all enjoy this exciting chapter. Also, if you're a Haku Chronicles reader, then expect the fourth one to be out around (I exaggerate AROUND) January 9th, which is, as I hope you all know, Haku's birthday (I'm celebrating by wearing my Haku necklace to school, showing everybody the Haku comics I found online, and laughing in the faces of whoever hates Haku that I know personally! ...Yeah. I'm THAT obsessed.)**_

_**Happy 2008, and Happy Birthday, Haku:)**_

Kamichi miserably shuffled through the hallways of the Avalanche Temple, with his small troop of friends slowly following behind. He was tired and desperate. They had been walking for hours, occasionally dodging behind doors just to avoid any trouble with the trackers.

This just wasn't fair. They had no food, no water, and hardly any more resources. Kamichi was especially tired after trying to chase down Cyclone for all of that time. Just the mental pressure itself from taking care of Kiroku and Kouki was making him worn out. They were a constant burden, almost like two more copies of himself to protect, feed, and keep alive. He was completely stressed out.

"Kamichi...I don't think I can take this much longer," Kiroku whined, messily stomping his feet on the ground with his next few steps as he struggled to catch up with his leader. "I'm tired and cold...and thirsty. My mouth is so dry...I can't even spit anymore!"

Kamichi sighed. "Well, you're just gonna have to deal with it for now."

"Do you still have that emergency water?" Kiroku asked hopefully.

"Kiroku, that's healing water." Kamichi replied grumpily. "It's best that we not use our only resource that's _suppossed_ to be for healing wounds. I know you're thirsty. We're all thirsty, but it's best we use up zero resources instead of two, which would be water and healing power. We need to save it 'till we absolutely _need_ it. None of us knows how to heal, anyway, so we'd be in big trouble if we drank all of the water and one of us got hurt."

"Isn't there two bottles?" Kiroku pressed.

"There is a difference between the words _crave _and _need_, Kiroku. Also, there is a difference between the three words _thirsty_,_ dehydration_, and _dying_, each one more extreme than the previous ones. You have to understand that." Kamichi reprimanded.

"C'mon, Kamichi! You're killin' me here! Stop preaching and please let us have some water!" Kiroku cried desperately.

Kamichi sighed. Even though Kiroku was being a pest, he was only complaining about their natural needs to survive. He was right. Kamichi needed to put his teammates first. Besides, there _were_ two small jugs. If they used up the first one, then they'd still have enough power to heal one person.

Kamichi dug in his backpack and pulled out a small jug. He handed it to Kouki. "Alright, here. Kouki takes some, and then you take some. Just switch it back and forth 'till it's gone."

Kouki eagerly took a small drink of the healthy super-vitamin water, and handed it to Kiroku as she wiped her mouth. "Thanks, but...don't you want some?"

"Naaah. Don't worry about me." Kamichi tossed off, shaking his head slightly, although he very badly wanted some water. But, if they kept on passing the drink between he, Kiroku, and Kouki, then they would only get a little bit each. Half a jug for each of Kamichi's teammates would satisfy them for a few hours.

Kouki had the jug in her hand now, since Kiroku had taken a drink. She nervously held it out to him. "You sure? Here, j-just take it. You can have my share."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Kamichi said, trying to make his voice sound friendly. "I'll be fine. Really."

"But Kamichi, this healing water makes you feel one-hundred percent better," Kiroku said. "I think it might help you keep going. I feel much stronger than before. I don't even feel like I need another drink. We're worried about you, Kamichi. Just take one sip...for us."

"Fine." Kamichi sighed and accepted the bottle from Kouki. He took a very small sip of the lukewarm yet refreshing jug of water. A wave of a cool replenishing feeling washed over his body and he felt a little stronger. Kiroku was telling the truth. That _did_ feel good, and he didn't have one craving for another drink. He was somehow satisfied.

"Alright, now that we've partially healed up, we should still take things slow," Kiroku suggested after Kamichi put a cork on the bottle and put it back to save some for later. "We can't risk losing our energy again, especially if we bump into a guard or something.."

Kamichi nodded. "Right...hey! Look!" He suddenly stopped and pointed to the ground, laughing.

"What?" Kouki and Kiroku asked in unison.

"We've been walking in a full circle the entire time! It's the trap that leads to that cage where Cyclone fell in." Kamichi said excitedly.

"Yeah, so?" Kiroku asked.

"Let's jump in."

"What?!" Both of Kamichi's teammates cried.

"Kamichi, that's stupid!" Kiroku yelled. "You don't know what could be going on down there!! People could be getting their heads cut off and stuff! Have you lost your mind?"

"Maybe," Kamichi admitted. "But I bet that the rest of the Kingpin Kunais are down there as well. They might have food and water, and...we can work with them to escape!"

"Dude, I thought we didn't like the Kingpin Kunais," Kiroku scratched his head, confused.

"You're right, but they still like me." Kamichi said with finality. "Besides, I've been told dozens of times that all rogue ninja are in it together, no matter what origin. Even if we have the same goals on our missions and hate each other, we're the equivalent of simple bandits still need to work together to get something done."

"Dude, like, seriously...are you okay?" Kiroku asked nervously. "Did you get bumped on the head or somethin'? O-Or maybe you're just overtired..."

"I don't care!! If we keep walking around aimlessly like this, then the situation's not gonna get any better! Might as well take a chance..." Kamichi said as he got ready to step on the fixed platform leading to Cage 1.

Kouki nodded. "Kamichi...maybe you're right...this could be our only hope of getting anywhere."

"Gettin' anywhere?!" Kiroku cried. "How is being trapped in a rusty old cage with a bunch-a losers gettin' anywhere?!"

Kamichi shrugged. "I dunno. But hey, at least we'll be able to beat the living daylights out of that little imp Cyclone." And with that, he jumped onto the stony fake platform and fell through.

"Kamichiii!" Kiroku screamed after him, but it was too late. He screamed out in frustration, then turned to Kouki. "Dang it! What are we gonna do?! He's done for down there!"

Kouki shrugged. "Go after him, I guess."

Kiroku shook his head. "No! We can't take stupid risks like that! I'm not letting either one of us go down there."

Just as Kouki was about to let out an arguing reply, there was a sudden familiar shriek and a bunch of clumsy, fast footsteps heading their way. Less than ten feet away.

"Midori, watch where you're going!" Masakaru screamed as Midori stumbled over her own feet, lost her grip on Masakaru's hand, and flew ahead in Kiroku and Kouki's direction.

"What the-?! Who the heck are you guys?!" Kiroku cried out.

"...Midori?! ...Masakaru?!" Kouki whispered in shock, not paying attention to the fact that Midori was about to clumsily slam right into them.

"Ooof!" Midori grunted as she bumped head-on into Kouki, who slammed into Kiroku (who was behind Kouki), and to add the icing on the cake, Masakaru slammed right into Midori from behind, knocking all four of them into the trap hole leading to Cage 1.

"Woooaah!" All four of them screamed as they fell down the hole and landed on top of one another when they hit the floor, making a shinobi doggy-pile.

Cyclone, who was sitting comfortably on Hikaru's shoulder, smiled sarcastically and applauded. "What an enterance! Bravo!! Congrats on being the next four inobservant losers who stupidly fell into this cage!"

"Hey, we aren't inobservant losers," Kiroku grumbled, sliding out underneath Kouki, Masakaru, and Midori, standing up, and dusting himself off. "We meant to come down, but Klutzy here knocked us over before we could get the chance to jump."

"Hey, I'm not klutzy!" Midori yelled defensively, squeezing out from under the squished Kouki and Masakaru and putting her hands on her hips. "It was an accident!" She didn't even know Kiroku, and yet she didn't like his attitude. It was bad enough that she had knocked four people over (including herself)...she didn't need him to rub it in her face like that.

"Yeah, a stupid _klutzy_ accident that only an idiot could pull off," Kiroku sneered over at her. "You can't even control your own speed."

Just as Midori was about to shoot back a fiesty reply, Masakaru came over and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey. Just let it go for now. We should be glad that we're back in the cage, safe and sound."

Kouki stood and dusted herself off, then glanced over at the gathering group. She ran to Midori and Masakaru with an excited look on her face. "Hey, you guys! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"We thought we'd never see you, either." Masakaru replied casually, scratching his head.

"Oh, hi, Kouki!" Midori said cheerfully, giving her a small hug, then looking at Kouki up and down. "Aww, it's been so long! It seems like you've grown so much!"

Kouki blinked, then blushed. "Uh...yeah..."

Kamichi then stood from his spot in the corner and went over to Midori and Masakaru. He seemed kind of uncomfortable and embarassed to see them. "Uh...hi. I didn't know you guys were here. You're with the Kingpin Kunais??"

Masakaru nodded. "Yeah, Midori persuaded them to take us with them and Ryo's group."

Kamichi looked puzzled. "Wh-What?" There was no way. He could have sworn that Masakaru had just said _Ryo..._

Masakaru's brown wrinkled. "I said, yeah, Midori presuaded them to take us with them along with Ryo's group."

Kamichi blinked. "Ryo?" Nah. This was impossible. There must have been another Ryo that Masakaru was talking about...

"S'right, _jerk_!" Ryo stood up from his spot and bravely walked over to Kamichi with his hands on his hips. "I'm alive!"

Kamichi backed up, his eyes widened. "No...you're dead. Toshiro killed you!! I-I watched! I...I soaked myself in your blood! There was just too much blood! Y-You must be a ghost or an illusion or...there's no way..." He didn't believe this. After all of these years, silently mourning for his old teammate...

"Well, obviously, there was a way!" Ryo shot back, practically shaking with anger. "Tomozaku helped me to the hospital and I had to get THIS!" He cried, pulling up his loose bandages to show Kamichi his fake arm.

Kamichi still looked shocked. "Oh, gosh...Ryo...I'm so sorry..."

"_And _I had to learn to become ambidextrous! You know how hard it was to use my remaining bad arm for everything and my fake arm for only stupid stuff?! How hard it was to resist using my former good arm for certain things so I wouldn't rip my arm socket even more?!" Ryo screamed.

Kamichi sighed and looked away, not saying anything. He didn't know what to say. There was really nothing to say at all. He couldn't even say he was sorry. After all that he had done to prove himself as a better person...the memories were agonizing...

"I could kill you for how you betrayed me..." Ryo growled in a quiet, infuriated tone. "And I'm _not_ the sorry little weakling that you used to beat up on, so I bet I very well could kill you."

Kamichi highly doubted that, considering the amazing amount of strength he had gained during the past year, but was still very sorry and had nothing to say. He wouldn't be surprised if Ryo had jumped on him at that very moment and started making attempts to pummel him. If that happened, then Kamichi would probably let him and deal with the pain.

But, Ryo did nothing after that. He just sighed and walked away, back to the corner he was sitting in by Zamu, Cyclone, Hikaru and Tomozaku.

Masakaru sighed when he saw Kamichi's upset face. "Don't mind him...most of us are a little flustered down here. I mean, Tomozaku never exploded at _me_ for tying him up during that little Halloween incident..."

Before Kamichi could utter a sad reply, Katsumi's loud, shrill voice rang over the entire cage. "Alright, everybody shut up and listen!!"

All of the captors and Hirokazu turned to look over at Katsumi, who was standing in the middle of the room with an aggravated look on her face.

Katsumi glared at everybody. "You little creeps are really starting to tick me off! I'm not standing for this!! There are more and more people purposely coming in and out of this cage, and I'm sick of it!!" She then reached in her pocket and took out an emergency communicating device.

"Heeey!" Cyclone yelled, rushing forward to face Katsumi. "We made a deal!! You have to stay in the cage with us! No reporting or doing anything 'til Tarina gets back!"

"I don't make deals with losers!" Katsumi said as she turned on the device and was making a call to Nuboru. "I'm callin' the boss, and telling him to send some guards over here to take care of you guys!"

"Nnnnn-o! You can't! I wont let you!!" Cyclone growled and pounced on Katsumi just as she was about to make the call.

Surprised by Cyclone's strength, Katsumi cried out and dropped the second communicator, automatically breaking it. Katsumi grabbed her staff and swung it at the clinging Cyclone. Poor little Cyclone was thrown of the Keeper with a bloody nose.

Cyclone sniffled, sat up from the floor with a wild look in his eyes, and got ready to pounce again. His tiny fists were balled and his ears were twitching madly.

Katsumi snorted at the small, angry creature on the ground, but then Cyclone high-jumped, hissed, and slashed her in the face as hard as he could with all of his nails. He just couldn't control himself. Katsumi had gotten on Cyclone's last nerve.

The group gasped as Katsumi screamed out in horror and pain, falling right on her bottom and beginning to wail. Her face wasn't bleeding because Cyclone's claws were way too dull, but she had five scratchy, bright red marks neatly streaking her face.

"Katsumi!!" Hirokazu cried out in concern, rushing to her side and kicking the ferociously growling Cyclone aside. He knelt down to look at her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"No!! Don't touch me!" Katsumi angrily wrenched away from her friend, who had backed away in a frightened manner. It wasn't Hirokazu's fault, and she would normally never do this, but this just wasn't her day. And when Katsumi didn't get her way, she got snappy. She stood, powered up a strange type of energy-sphere in her hand, and rushed at the ceiling, using chakra on her feet to run up the wall.

"Hey!" Midori screamed out. "What're you doing!?!"

"Breaking out of here! I've had enough of this!! I'm going to find Tarina myself and _drag _her back here where she belongs!" Katsumi said angrily as she slammed the evergy-sphere into the fixed metal cage in a slightly different manner than when Midori had broken out.

Hikaru snorted as he watched her leave. "Good luck with that." He mumbled to himself. There was no way such a puny, Midori-like girl could outsmart and overpower his older sister.

"Nooooo! Dang it!" Slicer screamed out as the cage bars regenerated and Katsumi was long gone. He stood furiously and faced the whole group. "Don't you understand what this means?! We're done for! We let Katsumi escape from the cage! She's going to report all of us, keep Tarina from resuing Omari, and get us all killed!!"

Everybody just looked at him.

Slicer sighed as he returned to his original spot on the wall and plopped to the ground, not even acknowledging that Hirokazu, one of the enemies, was still trapped in the cage with them. He didn't really care. The kid was powerless, anyway. "Ahh, what's the use of yelling? We might as well just pace around like the losers we are and hope for the best..."

"Hey, don't worry. Tarina will take care of everything." Hikaru said in an assuring tone as the now crying Cyclone crawled onto his lap and curled up into a ball. "She knows what she's doing. I doubt Katsumi will even get the chance to hunt down Tarina before she retrieves Omari."

Kamichi looked over at Hikaru, not noticing him from before. He smiled innocently over at him. "Ohh, would you look at that? The cage animal finally breaks free and he just ends up in another one. Puh-thetic."

"Hey, shut up. Tarina told me to come in here with the rest of my group." Hikaru said, glaring back at his enemy but not making any type of move to attack. "And just how many traps have _you_ stupidly fell for so far?"

Kamichi shrugged. "None. Just like you, I intentionally came into this cage."

Hikaru laughed. "Probably because you have no life and had nothing better to do."

"Would both of you guys _please_ shut up?!" Midori said angrily from next to Masakaru. "Things are bad enough as it is. We don't need any more fights than there already is. I know we all haven't seen each other for years, and we're all _dying_ to kill each other, but let's just keep it peaceful for now."

Hirokazu, who was plopped down in the corner where nobody was sitting near, suddenly started to cry. Not just a sniffling, soft weep. He was bawling. He was probably upset about Katsumi's pushing him away and her sudden aloofness to him.

Nobody said anything. They _all _felt like bawling. They were trapped. And for most of the members in Cage 1, this wasn't the first time they had been locked up. It was very aggravating and depressing, especially considering what was going to happen to them later on.

After a few more minutes with no noise inside of the cage except for Hirokazu's bawling, Hikaru started to get aggravated. He brushed Cyclone off of his shoulder, and walked over to him.

Hirokazu sensed Hikaru looming over him, sniffled, and looked up at him with teary eyes. He was down on his knees, his cloth face mask all wet from crying. "Y-Yes?"

Hikaru smacked him in the head, hard. "Shut up."

"Wh-Why...you...you...waaahh!" Hirokazu started to cry even harder.

Hikaru grabbed Hirokazu's robe and pulled him forward, fist at the ready. "I said, shut up! I'm tired of hearing you cry! What are you, like fourteen years old?! Get ahold of yourself!" If it were Slicer or Zamu or Midori crying, he wouldn't have made such a big deal about it. But, for some reason, this kid and his giant crybaby eyes was making Hikaru's charm tremble with fury.

"I..."

"What's your problem, anyway?! Why are you so covered up and acting all weird?!" Hikaru demanded.

"I...I can't..." Hirokazu shook his head, Hikaru's aggravated glare making him even more upset. For some reason, he seemed to especially want to avoid displeasing Hikaru. "Please...forgive me...I..."

Midori looked especially worried, not appearing as puzzled as the rest of the group. "Hikaru...I think you should give the kid a break...really. He's just unsettled, I'm sure."

"I don't care! I just want this little punk to stop crying!" Hikaru yelled angrily. "He's very annoying, and I'm GOING to punch him in the stomach and rip off his cloak if he doesn't quit it _right now_!"

"No! Don't!" Hirokazu cried out in a frightened tone. Tears were still streaming down his face and he was sniffling as Hikaru raised his fist even higher.

Zamu sighed. "Hikaru, don't be such a bully. You're scaring him. You could just nicely ask him to be quiet, you know."

"Are you kidding me?!? I'm not nicely doing anything for him. This guy is an enemy, Smarty-goon! I'm not gonna take it easy on him when he's bawling like a little baby! We're the ones who should be bawling! He has the key to the cage and can get outta this place whenever he wants, but he's too scared to break his own deal!" Hikaru said.

Hikaru was right about that. Hirokazu _did_ have a key, and could easily get out and go after Katsumi and Tarina, even though he had shaken hands with Slicer and swore to stay in. But he was just too chicken to defy the rules. He was too scared of Hikaru and the others.

"I-I'm sorry...I just can't..." Hirokazu started to cry all over again, not able to help himself.

"Ugh! _Shuuut uuup! _You're so annoying!" Hikaru punched Hirokazu right in the stomach as hard as possible.

Hirokazu bawled and fell back, clutching his pounding stomach. He had never felt such great physical and emotional pain before.

"What the-?! This pathetic goon can't even take a punch?!" Hikaru shrieked, stunned by the Keeper's reaction to the hit. Nobody had ever cried when Hikaru had punched them. It sort of made Hikaru feel bad for the kid, but even more enfuriated. "Dude, are you even a ninja?!" He turned back to his crying victim, his eyes widened.

"Obviously not," Masakaru snorted, while everyone else looked just plain confused.

"Are you a samurai?!" Hikaru asked, slowly letting go of Hirokazu's cloak collar. Samurai didn't susually cry when they got punched in the stomach, but it was still a possibility.

"N-No! I'm not anything!" Hirokazu screamed out pitifully, bracing himself for any kind of ridicule afterward. "I'm not a skilled shinobi _or_ a samurai _or _a trainee! I'm not any type of warrior! I'm just a normal person!"

Hikaru looked puzzled and blinked. "A normal person?! Without _any _type of skill?! Well, why in the world would they hire a wussy like _you_ as a Keeper?"

Hirokazu sniffled. "I was sent here as an exile because my mom was an exile...I was always suppossed to work alongside her, but they separated us when I turned twelve...I- hey!! Wh-What're you doing! Don't do that!" He suddenly cried as Hikaru tried to snatch the veil-like cloth covering most of his face.

"Why not?! You're hiding something!" Hikaru said as he tried again.

Hirokazu miserably made an attempt to shove Hikaru away from him, but that didn't work out so well. His basic human strength had no effect on Hikaru.

Hikaru ponned him down to the ground without using much energy, trapping his hands from movment. He then snatched the veil and cloak hood off of Hirokazu's head, revealing his true face.

Hikaru took one look and his eyes were suddenly wide and unblinking. He sat up off of Hirokazu, just staring at him. _"What the hell...?" _He stood slowly and backed away from Hirokazu.

Everybody just stared back at forth from Hirokazu to Hikaru. The only way they could tell the two apart was from their hairstyles.

Hirokazu sat up from the ground, blushing and looking very nervous and sorry. He scratched his full head of thick, jet black hair and looked down. "I..."

"Who _are_ you?" Hikaru asked in a hushed whisper. He was shaking. His head was gushing blood like it had during his daymare in the desert, but he didn't even notice it this time.

Hirokazu stood on shaky legs, and slowly tried to approach Hikaru. "Please...try to understand..."

"No...g-get away from me..." Hikaru mumbled in a bland tone, his eyes still widened and staring. The kid looked just like him, only without a charm on his head. It was just too weird and amazing. It was impossible. "G-Get away...you're a freak..." Everything was coming together now. Why else would Hirokazu want to hide his face? Nothing was wrong with it, after all. Hikaru's face was Hirokazu's face.

Hirokazu looked upset, but spoke in a soft, understanding tone that was meant to lull Hikaru and calm him down. "Brother...don't be frightened...I'll just explain it to you-" He slowly walked towards him.

"Brother?!" Everybody shrieked before he could finish.

"N-No! Get away from me!! You're not real! Y-You're just a jerk who's trying to freak me out with a clone!" Hikaru cried out in an accusing tone, stabbing a finger in his twin's direction. He didn't want to believe this.

And Masami...Hikaru hated to admit it, but she _did_ look exactly like he and Hirokazu and Tarina...

Hikaru shook his head to himself. _No...how could...how could this kid look just like me and call me his brother...?! It's impossible!! Why didn't Tarina...? _All kinds of confused thoughts were rambling around in Hikaru's already shaken head. He wondered if he was dreaming, or hallucinating. His charm was hurting him so badly...

Hirokazu just stared at him sadly. "I...I didn't want to show you until our sister got back..." He said meekly as he looked down and backed off.

"NOOOO!" Hikaru screamed, hands slapped to his head. Hirokazu didn't even have to directly say that he was Hikaru's twin. It was obvious. A little message had embedded itself in Hikaru's brain as soon as Hirokazu's face was revealed. He knew, but didn't want it to be true. "No! Tarina's MY sister! She's not _our _sister! She's mine and mine only! You- you're not my brother!"

What hurt Hikaru the most was not Tarina's secret-keeping, but the fact that Hirokazu was too scared to ever show his face. Hirokazu, the _normal_ one, had always been ashamed of who he was since he looked too much like his twin brother, who was a demonic monster. It made Hikaru feel like an abomination from a different planet. Like he was somewhere he didn't belong. Like he didn't deserve to be in anybody's presence.

So_ that _was the strange, missing-peice feeling that Hikaru had felt all along while in the temple...

Midori's soft voice, sad and gentle, came a few feet away from Hikaru. "H-He's not lying, Hikaru...Hirokazu _is_ your brother..."

Hikaru whipped around to gace Midori with fury in his eyes. _"How would YOU know?!?"_

Midori didn't even flinch by Hikaru's snappy, screaming reply, even though it looked as though he wanted to kill her. Despite the many confusing thoughts and feelings that were poisoning Hikaru's mind with anger, Hikaru could tell that Midori had gotten way tougher and more tolerant in the past year. "I know because Tarina told me."

"What! When?! Why would she tell _you _and not _me_?! Don't you guys think I deserve to know who my own brother is?!" Hikaru cried, tears streaming down his face.

"No. As a matter of fact, she _didn't_ think you deserved to know." Midori said, arms crossed. "She said you didn't deserve such a bad burden on your shoulders because you're so sweet. She loves you too much and doesn't want to hurt you with that kind of information. Besides, before she came to the Avalanche Temple, Tarina was pretty sure Hirokazu was dead anyway." She said with a small shrug.

"What?!" Hirokazu cried, slightly offended.

"Aaargh! How DARE you!! How dare you still be alive and be normal! I'm going to kill you!" Hikaru screamed, totally disacknowledging what Midori had said to him and lunging out for the frightened Keeper. His fangs and claws were popped out and his eyes were a bright red.

Everybody, including Hirokazu, knew it wouldn't take much strength for Hikaru to kill him.

"Aah-ahhhhh!" Hirokazu cried, falling down to his knees and covering his eyes, waiting for it to all be over.

Just as Hikaru was about to raise and slash Hirokazu's chest with a razor-sharp claw, he recieved a hard punch in the side of the head by an unexpected force that was standing in front of his twin. Hikaru fell right onto the floor, groaning and rubbing his temple.

"Don't touch him," Kamichi said sternly as Hikaru struggled onto his feet. Kamichi took out his glowing whip-like weapon and held it in a threatening manner. "How low and pathetic can you get? You should embrace the fact that Hirokazu's your brother, Hikaru. You can't just kill him. He can't help that he was born a few minutes after you!"

"Uugh...what's it to you?!" Hikaru yelled as he extended his sharp black claws. "This is none of your business, Kamichi! Now, outta my way! I've got to finish something here!"

"You're not finishing anything." Kamichi said. "If you want to get to Hirokazu, then you have to go through me."

"Why do you even care?!" Hikaru demanded.

"Because we don't need any more blood right now!! We need to get along as best as we can until this whole thing is settled. And I just can't sit around and watch you tear your innocent twin brother into peices. He's helpless!" Kamichi said. He was sure glad that he had chosen to enter the trap. This was finally interesting, and maybe he could finally show Hikaru what he was truly made of.

Hikaru snorted. "And _this_ is coming from the pathetic little brat who almost killed his best friend and sensei?"

Kamichi glared back. "It sure is. And you know what? I'm not afraid to admit that I've learned my lesson. ...So, are you gonna back off or what?"

"You wish." Hikaru growled, and lunged for his younger enemy as Hirokazu whimpered and backed up to a safe corner.

Kamichi jumped out of the way with now bright red eyes, whipped around and swung his electric whip in Hikaru's direction.

"Watch out, Your Goonliness! That thing's dangerous!" Cyclone cried out as the battle between the two boys begun.

Everybody else just sighed and watched sadly. There was no stopping them now. Both Hikaru and Kamichi were just too powerful and stubborn to calm down by using words _or_ force.

Hikaru quickly ducked the electric whip and awung a powerful claw at Kamichi's face, his muscles starting to grow due to the enormous amount of chakra pulsating inside of his arm.

Kamichi quickly blocked the attack by holding up his two arms in front of his face. His upper arms had recieved nasty, burning slashes from Hikaru's claw attack, and Kamichi went sliding backward, but he didn't fall.

As soon as Kamichi went skidding backward and wasn't on guard, Hikaru took this opportunity to charge at him with full speed and knock him to the ground, pinning him with his whole body.

"Heh..." Kamichi just smirked. "I have to admit that you're a bit stronger and faster than I thought you'd be." With that, he suddenly disappeared into a huge puff of dark gray smoke. It had been some weird type of clone.

The smoke cloud surrounded Hikaru and Hikaru only. He accidentally breathed in the stuff and coughed. It reminded him of machine exhaust. Well, whatever the smoke-like substance was, it was plugging up Hikaru's nostrils and making it hard to breathe. He couldn't see.

The real Kamichi laughed from his spot on the ceiling as the smoke finally started to clear. Hikaru dizzily looked up at his enemy, feeling very ill all of a sudden. The smoke had gotten in his eyes and nose and mouth.

Kamichi sprang down from the ceiling with his whip at the ready. Hikaru, stumbling around aimlessly and standing on shaky legs, was completely incapable of focusing his chakra or making any move at all. His fangs and claws weren't even out anymore.

"Aah! Your Goonliness! Get outta the way!!" Cyclone cried out in a panic as Kamichi lashed at Hikaru's neck with the whip from behind, in a move that was sure to kill him.

Before the dangerous, electric whip could come into contact with Hikaru's skin, Hikaru fell sloppily down to the ground, too woozy to even stand. Kamichi missed, and ended up tripping over Hikaru's outstretched body. They were both on the ground.

Hikaru sat up and gagged, his eyes watering, expecting to throw up any second. He didn't. The feeling then quickly wore off as the last of the poisonous smoke cleared, and Kamichi sat up from the ground with a grumpy, enfuriated look on his face.

Hikaru coughed, starting to stand along with his enemy. "This...isn't...over..." He grunted as he started to stagger towards Kamichi.

"I never said it was!" Kamichi growled back, and took a step forward.

"Stop it!!" Midori yelled, suddenly appearing in between the two advancing boys. The look in her eyes and position told Hikaru and Kamichi that she was ready to take both of them on if it meant stopping the fight. "Just stop it! No more fighting!! It's a tie, okay?! You're both losers!"

"Uugh...th-thank you...Midori..." Hikaru murmured in a sick-sounding voice, then plopped to the floor with a moan, fainting after a few more seconds on the ground. He didn't move. Even though the poison effect had worn off of his body, the Midnight Demon-related power surge had completely drained him already.

Kamichi cackled, arms crossed in a triumphant manner. "Haah! I didn't even need to land another punch! He's already down! What a weakling! Which means _I_ won!" He said.

"Oooh, thank you!!" Hirokazu suddenly ran up to Kamichi and gave him a huge hug that nearly knocked him over. "You saved my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He cried desperately, clinging to his savior.

"Uh...you're welcome..." Kamichi mumbled in a disgusted tone, then gently tried to pry Hirokazu off of him. "Yeeaah...c-can you get offa me now? Please?"

"Oh! Uh, sure. Sorry about that..." Hirokazu smiled nervously as he dusted Kamichi off and backed away.

Kamichi just stared at the Keeper for a moment, thinking about how much of a kiss-up Hirokazu was going towards him from now on. He was snapped out of the stare when Midori slapped him across the face. Hard.

"Ow!!" Kamichi wailed, putting up a hand to rub his bright red cheek. "Whad'ja do that for?!"

"You guys oughtta ashamed of yourselves!" Midori yelled, facing Kamichi. "We're in the worst case situation here, with Katsumi gone after Tarina and Omari still trapped. We don't need you making trouble like this! We have to work together from now on! Beat each other's brains out later!"

"Whaaat-ever," Kamichi singsonged and casually walked to the other side as he deactivated his whip and stuffed it back into his small backpack he had been wearing the entire time.

Midori sighed and closed her eyes. She would have been proud of herself for being able to stop the fight, but she couldn't. Everybody knew that it was just going to get even tougher from here on in.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

The crazed Tarina had tore her way through the majority of the mass of night guards. She had killed few, but injured and severely beaten many. Some of the younger ones had tried to run away from the scene, but Tarina had easily every one of her victims and physcially tortured them in almost all ways possible. It was so much fun. She had never had so much fun in her life.

And although these sick, sick deeds would normally make Tarina's stomach turn, the sight of the Sunrise Demon's chamber had made her mentally and emotionally tougher. She could handle anything. She could destroy or maim any guard or even an innocent bystander and not feel a single thing for their poor, frightened souls.

There were only three guards left.

Tarin would savor the final moments of the gruesome battle. She would enjoy the looks on each of the guards' faces and rip their weak little bodies apart slowly and painfully, so slowly and disgustingly that she could feel their desperate, pleading screams ringing through her bones. To Tarina, there was nothing more pleasurable than that.

Tarina raced towards the first one, who was probably the youngest of all the night guards. Only about fifteen or sixteen years old. The guard was shaking, not making any move at all, knowing that she was finished here. There was nothing she could do to protect herself.

Tarina sensed the horrified emotion coming from the young female guard and loved it. It empowered her and made her feel even more alive. It was delicious. For her, it was almost better than the taste of blood itself.

_...Wait...what am I doing?! _A sudden pang of the real Tarina hit the demonic form of herself like a club. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, breathing hard and her charm bubbling and shivering from the blood. If it popped off, then she would be at least two-hundred times vulnerable to getting snatched away by the Sunrise Demon and getting the seal back on her forehead.

_This isn't going to help me. It might feel good for now, but..I know nothing will really come out of this. I'll just end up getting hurt. I need to calm myself down...just resist... _Tarina told herself in her head, forcing herself to back away from the cornered guard. She tried to ignore the guard's shaking and trembling. She looked down and saw her own blood on the floor. Unlike Omari, Tarina's demon was not activated by her own blood. Tarina didn't like the sight of her own blood. She backed away even further from the huge blood puddle, which momentarily turned black and shriveled up into nothing.

The guard hesitated for a moment, then made a silent guesture towards her partner, who was backed up in a different corner, waiting for his doom. Both of the guards nodded at each other and suddenly ran away as fast as possible right past the non-moving Tarina, screaming their heads off.

"Uugh..." Tarina groaned to herself. A strong wave of relief washed over her as two of the three remaining guards had escaped.

_Only two?_ _Wait...why didn't the other guard leave...? _Tarina thought, looking up. Something didn't feel right. She sensed that another being was nearby. When she saw the third worker who was suppossed to be defending Nuboru, she smirked as she slowly stood.

"Well, well, well..." Tarina laughed in a sickly-sweet voice, losing all control over her true self. "Look who we have here. Too chicken to even move, huh?"

Masami just stood before her monsterously insane daughter, quivering with confused fear. The coward deep inside of her wanted to run, but the true mother embedded within her trembling skin told her that she shouldn't leave. "S-Sweetie..." She whispered in a hushed voice, shocked that the demonic force that had torn apart a two-hundred man squad was her daughter. She had been standing in the back the entire time.

Tarina cackled and slowly stepped forward in her mother's direction, making Masami flinch and nervously hold out her staff in front of her.

Tarina snorted, but was still stepping forward with her golden claws. "You poor, poor thing. You're so powerless and afraid to face your own daughter. How depressing."

"T-Tarina...d-don't do it." Masami pleaded in a shaking whisper as Tarina was less than four feet away from her now, ready to pounce. "I-I know...you don't want to kill me. You're just hurt..."

"I know. But it'll make me feel much better once I obliterate you!" Tarina laughed in a crazed manner as she took a huge step forward, not even two inches away from her shaky mother. Her claws were readied at her sides, shaking with anticipation. She couldn't wait to rip her stomach open...

"N-No! Please, Tarina! I love you, and I always have! I never meant any harm! I-I'm sorry I never protected you like I was suppossed to! I was never ready to have children! It was just part of the cursed potion's effect! I'm sorry!" Masami cried, practically squished against the wall.

Tarina just looked at her, grinning evilly. She wouldn't be surprised if her mother hadn't wet her pants already. Tarina loved to be feared. She felt so free, so indestructable, so powerful. And that was the best feeling in the world.

"T-Tarina..." Masami gulped, trying her best to get her voice to stop shaking. She tried to look brave. "I-I'm willing to do anything for you...I just beg of you...please don't harm me. The only reason I value my own life is because I have to take care of-"

"Your _son_?" Tarina asked mockingly. "Hirokazu? Your _only_ child who you always loved and kept??"

Masami vigorously shook her head, the spiraling sun charm on her head starting to bleed as well. Masami was incapable of obtaining any type of power, but each of the demons shared a small amount of spiritual resemblance with her. "No, Tarina! You're wrong! You know very well that I've always loved you more than anything or anybody, and I'm not just saying that. I've always done my best to keep you safe until that day when they came and tried to take you..."

"So?" Tarina just glared at her, but the look in her eyes started to soften in memory of when she and Masami had been so clueless and happy together...she sniffed slightly, but no tears came.

"Tarina, I _know_ that you don't want to kill me like you think you do." Masami said with finality.

"Yes, I do! I've always wanted to kill you and Hirokazu after-"

"Then why haven't you done it already?!" Masami asked angrily. "You're too hesitant. You're _scared _because you know it's wrong. You've had years, Tarina, even two _decades _to get back at me and Hirokazu for hiding I've done, and I haven't seen a trace of you ever since you ran away from me."

Tarina fell silent for a moment, just looking at her. Her mother _definately_ had a point there. She then glared at Masami. "Well, it doesn't look like I'm ready to shed any mercy now, does it?!"

"Just...please. I-I'd be willing to do _anything_..." Masami got on her knees before Tarina and looked up at her in a begging manner. "Just please don't take me away from here. I need this place. I need my children with me, and that includes you and Hikaru. I'll do any type of favor in exchange for my life..."

Tarina looked down at her stonily, although she still wasn't sure her mother was doing this for her cowardly self or Hirokazu. It _would_ seem kind of unfair if she had just killed her mother without giving her one last chance. The ripping and tearing would just have to wait. She sighed. "Very well." She was still in her half monster-like state of mind and her eyes were still red, but the visible energy surge surrounding her had temporarily died down.

"What do wish for?"

"I want you to escort me to my friend Omari- or better known as the 'Demon Child'." Tarina said strictly. "And I want it done in less than five minutes. Which means, you had _better_ know where she is, or else. And if we bump into Nuboru or Masatoshi, you're not to run away or go to their side. You stay by me. Defy any of these rules and I'll kill you faster than you can blink. Understand?"

"Yes." Masami stood and bowed to her submissively. She then turned in the opposite direction, towards another seemingly endless, stony hallway. "I'm pretty sure that she is this way. Follow me." She said briskly as the ran off into the hallway, closely followed by her daughter. Masami was a trained ninja and could run pretty fast, but was only a chunin.

As they ran, Tarina shot Masami a shifty-eyed warning look. "I know how you can be. Don't even think about leading me into one of your stupid traps, 'cause it wont work. In this state, I'm way too strong to be held inside of one of your pitiful little cages."

Masami looked away and gulped, as if one of her plans had been foiled. "Ah- uh...I wasn't planning on entrapping you. Never. Uh...Omari's cage is this way. actually." She pointed to another hallway coming up, and zoomed away in that direction.

Tarina followed right behind her. She normally wouldn't get so close to a person who she was following, but she wanted to assure Masami that Tarina wouldn't put up with any kind of trick that she could be pulling. Tarina had to make sure that her mother wouldn't run away, but she was pretty sure that Masami wouldn't dare to after being threatened with death.

After a few more minutes of running, Masami skidded to a stop in a corner, and her back was against the wall. They were close to a large white door that didn't look locked. Tarina went up against the wall, too, closest to the door. It was a soundproof door, but faint screaming could be heard in the distance.

Tarina's eyes widened. She gasped slightly. "Omari..."

Masami just stood there, twiddling her thumbs, making a move to start walking away. "Uh...sh-should I leave now?"

"Nope. You're staying right here." Tarina growled quietly, grabbing Masami's wrist and restraining her from walking away. "You stay with me until this is over, and then I might let you go after you come back to the cage with me and tell Hikaru who you really are."

"Honey, that wasn't part of the deal." Masami said sternly, but with a super-nervous look in her eyes.

"I don't care. I'm the one in control here. You either stay with me or else." Tarina snapped back as she slid down the wall and faced the door, hand on the knob.

"Wait!! You can't just go in there!!" Masami wailed loudly, then slapped a hand over her mouth.

Tarina glared and lightly smacked her mother's arm to tell her to quiet down. _"Shut up!! Nuboru's office is just around the corner and all of his workers will hear you! And yes, I CAN go in there. I think I know how to calm my own friend down after nine years of training." _She whispered furiously.

Tarina then abruptly turned the knob and pushed open the heavy door, looking around to see Nuboru and Omari in the room. Neither of them had noticed at first. "Hey. Guess who?"

Omari looked away from Nuboru and at Tarina. She gasped and she started to cry from pure relief, not saying anything. She had stopped screaming now, but she looked half-dead, bloodied all over and her barbels sagging. She was quiet from the pain. Tarina flinched at the sight of this. Huge containers half-filled with Omari's liquid chakra and bouncing energy atoms were stored in the corner of the huge room, connected to the machine wires.

"What the-?! T-Tarina?!?" Nuboru screamed out in surprise and fright, whipping around to face the doorway. He took a look at who else was there and gasped. "Masami!!"

"Uh...I, uh..." Masami gulped and looked down.

"What-?!" Nuboru was deeply confused. He had always thought that Tarina would have killed Masami at first sight. He smirked at Tarina, understanding. "Ooh, I get it now. "You must have forced your frightened little mommy into submission, huh?"

"That's right. I told her to escort me here. I've come because I had to rescue Omari...aaaand I'd really like to beat the crap out of you." Tarina said, stepping forward. The aura of energy that was within her started to become visible. It wasn't a violent, lashing flame of energy surrounding Tarina this time. It was almost gentle and pretty, even though the energy showed that she was ready to fight as hard as possible. She seemed to have much more control over herself this time at the sight of Nuboru.

Nuboru snorted, then turned towards Tarina's mother with a cruel look in his leering eye. "Masami, you're fired. I'll have you executed immediately after I destroy your precious little daughter and I'll _also_ make you watch the deaths of both your sons. Actually, I'm pretty sure Hikaru is dead by now and the demon has taken over his body."

Masami gasped slightly, then fainted right onto the ground. Tarina sighed and easily slid the nonmoving Masami aside with her foot so she wouldn't end up getting stepped on.

Tarina then smiled up at Nuboru after she had kicked aside her unconscious mother. "Actually, Hikaru is still alive. A kid from Omari's group and I went to go save him. He's back in Cage 1 now, safe and sound."

"Whaaat?!" Nuboru screamed. "Isn't Hirokazu in there, too?!"

Tarina shrugged. "Yeah, he's still probably in there. But, I think it's better that the two figure each other out on their own. Now, are you going to surrender and let Omari go, or are you going to make this hard for both of us?"

Nuboru laughed. "Are you kiddin' me?! I'm not gonna let you steal the great Demon Child away from me! I'm not even half-finished with her yet! ...However, you can have the corpse that's left, if you like."

Tarina cocked her head. "Hmm. You seem pretty confident. Usually, I would expect you to be afraid of me."

This made Nuboru laugh even harder.

"C'mon, let's just get this over with!" Tarina growled, her charm expanding slightly and sparking with some type of strange electricity.

Nuboru quickly raised his hand and snapped his fingers loudly, causing two ninja guards, dressed in white and having white masks, to peel themselves off of the wall and approach Tarina in a slow, scary manner. Tarina hadn't noticed them at all. She had to admit that they had done a pretty good job of camouflaging themselves as merely a part of the wall.

Tarina laughed arms crossed. "You two look like zombies or something. Very dorky zombies."

The two zombie-like ninja in white suddenly snapped out of their weird walk and ran towards Tarina at a moderate speed, each taking out a Golden Kunai.

Tarina leered over at them, not even moving. "You creeps stole those from Omari, didn't you?"

"What's it matter to _you_?" One of the ninja asked in a scratchy, tough-sounding voice as he rushed across the huge room towards his new prey. "We're suckers for gold, so they're ours now. Your little friend is done for, anyway, so who cares?"

"Yeeah." The other one laughed from behind his mask. "Which means that we'd be willing to kill you and pluck out every one of those demonic golden nails of yours."

Tarina smirked and had her claws at the ready. "Let's see you try and get them, then."

"Aarrrgh!" Both ninja leapt high into the air and aimed their precious kunais at Tarina. As they both flew downward to impale her, Tarina caught both of their wrists at the last second and threw them against the wall. A common move, but a useful one.

The two white-covered ninja slammed into the wall, their masks falling right off of their faces. They both looked mentally jarred from the strong hit against the solid white wall, but they were up on their feet in no time, suddenly raising some type of colorful, rounded force-feild around them out of nowhere.

"You guards are so weak and predictable," Tarina cackled. "I know you got that stupid force-feild power from the Rainbow Boulder."

"Yeah, so?!" The first ninja asked meanly as the weak rainbow aura surrounded he and his partner. "It's still gonna help us destroy you! Not any type of fist or stone OR metal can get through this bubble!"

"Heh...you really think that my Supernova Laserbeam can't get through your pretty little rainbow bubbles?" Tarina snorted, putting her hands together in a series of complex hand signs that everybody else in the room recognized.

"T-Tarina...you wouldn't!" Nuboru cried. "You'll wreck the place, c'mon!!"

_"We're going to finish this right now!! Supernova Laserbeam!!!" _Tarina screamed out furiously, the purplish chakra moving up from her feet and every other part of her body up to her mouth, making her body shake with nothing but raw energy...

"Aaaaaaaaaahh!" Nuboru shrieked as grasped onto the side of the machine that Omari was hooked up to so he wouldn't go flying from the Supernova Laserbeam's energy winds that were directed towards the two defending night guards.

For once, Omari was a bit happy that she was tied up, otherwise she would have went flying into the wall and got an even bigger headache than she had now. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook from the huge energy burst that had come from Tarina...the chakra was so powerful and scalding hot...

Finally, it was over.

Tarina sneered, not even breathless from the amazing attack she had just managed to pull off.

The entire back wall was scorched. The two guards just stood there, looking shocked, not moving at all. Their white robes had been burned off of them and they were in their basic clothing. But something was wrong about them. They looked completley bleached. The color, the life, had been blown right out of them from the intense heat but the result managed to keep their physical forms. They looked like mere blank pictures from a kid's coloring book, nothing but an outline and a bright white color. A huge pool of blood covered almost the entire floor. The two ninja were dead.

All of a sudden, the two motionless, still-standing, lifeless bodies lightly exploded into two piles of pure white dust. Just a small _poof_ and their remains were obliterated.

_Geez...Tarina's gotten alot stronger! Usually, she'd be worn out with just one of those attacks! I wonder exactly how much she can handle..? _Omari thought with a gulp. It was hard to believe. Tarina, who was offered an eternity of relaxation as a guardian angel, actually took the time to train and get even stronger.

"Uuuhhh...I-I...you..." Nuboru started to stammer stupidly, looking at Tarina. He was in shock. Absolute shock. Tarina had just _poofed _two of his most trusted guards away in a blink, and she wasn't even out of breath or running out of energy.

Tarina was just staring down at the pile of human-dust and blood pool she had just made, glaring at it as if she was sorry for killing them but glad that it was done quickly. Her murderous look suddenly snapped up from the floor and at Nuboru.

Nuboru twitched and backed up a step. "Uh...I, um...don't t-take this whole incident the wrong way. I-I would be w-willing to let the dem-, uh..._Omari_ go if you want to-"

He couldn't even finish as Tarina slammed her fist into Nuboru's face as hard as possible, then headbutting him in the chest at a super-high speed. Nuboru instantly cried out as his nose and lip started to gush blood, and the furious Tarina had thrown him against the wall, taking out a Dark Kunai.

"T-Tarina, wait! Stop! Y-You wouldn't!" Nuboru managed to sputter despite the blood filling his throat and the horrible pain in his chest.

"What makes you think I wouldn't...?" Tarina asked in a growling voice, raising and eyebrow and flipping the kunai into a ready position.

Nuboru knew it was no use. He was just too scared to resist. Tarina was going to kill him for his devious actions done towards her friends. Besides, if he resisted, it would only excite the returning demon inside of her and he would die more painfully. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the unbearable pain to come...

"Noooo! Stoooop! Keep your claws off of Master Nuboru!!" A young voice shrieked as the door swung open and nimble footsteps were heard heading right towards Tarina.

"T-Tarina! Watch out!!" Omari managed to cough out, even though she was exausted, beaten, and bloody all over.

"Huuh?" Tarina turned slightly, her eyes widening. "What-?! Owww!" Tarina cried out as Katsumi tackled her from the side, making her fall and drop the shivering Dark Kunai. Nuboru passed out and slumped to the ground, face still a bloody mess.

Katsumi jumped onto Tarina, started to shriek at her former teacher loudly, and hit her in wildly reckless, weak slaps. "You stupid jerk! You think you can hurt poor Master Nuboru and get away with it?!"

"Uuurgh!" Tarina grunted loudly as she put her feet into the right position and roughly kicked the younger girl off of her, then leapt back up on her feet all in one smooth move.

Katsumi was thrown off of Tarina, flew upwards about five feet into the air, then plopped back down on her back. After a few seconds, Katsumi stood slowly and faced Tarina with a determined, feirce look on her face, staff out and spearhead exposed. She stood in a fighting stance, making Tarina laugh out loud.

"You're really stupid," Tarina laughed. This kid didn't have a chance. What was Katsumi thinking?

"Not really." Katsumi replied smoothly, but had a nervous look in her eyes as she brushed her bangs out of the way. "I'm just doing my job to protect my leader and protect what's his."

Tarina sniffed. "You traitor. I remember the day when the pathetic seven-year-old named Katsumi came to me after our first battle and got on your knees, begging for _me_ to be your leader. Times have changed quite alot, haven't they?"

Katsumi nodded. "They sure have. And they'll change even more once I beat you to a pulp. Then, Master Nuboru will have no problem getting rid of your punky little friends and he'll rule the world."

"Yeah, we'll see." Tarina said skeptically, then bent down slowly and picked up her Dark Kunai, then standing in a fighting stance as well as Katsumi, a light spray of loose chakra orbiting around her seemingly calmed body. "Let's see just how strong you've gotten."

_**...Meanwhile...**_

The entire group was deeply depressed and confused.

Hikaru was still knocked out, Hirokazu was still sniffling in a corner, Kamichi was still snickering crazily about his triumph over Hikaru, Slicer was still pouting, Ryo was still cursing Kamichi to himself, and Zamu was still worrying like crazy. The rest of the group didn't know what to think or what to do. It had just been way too long. They were all on the verge of going absolutely insane, some closer to that uncontrollable state of mind than others.

Midori had seemed to have taken the lead of the large group over the past half-hour since Tarina and Omari weren't present. Hikaru would have been next-in-line for leader (being second-in-command for Omari's group), but a K.O'ed, massively angered kid couldn't do them any good. There were a few disputes between Kamichi and Cyclone almost directly after Hikaru's defeat, and Midori had been the one to settle them with her sympathetic yet forceful words. Midori had also been the one to accept Hirokazu as just one of the group instead of steaming off at him for being a crybaby, and had even went over and tried to comfort him a few times. After that, everybody had just silently accepted Midori as the one to keep the group peaceful and the person to make any major decisions (if there were ever any to be made).

On the whole, the group had been pretty silent for the past few minutes, and all of the younger kids (including Cyclone) had actually fallen asleep on the hard stony ground. The only sounds were Cyclone's occasional swish of the tail, Masakaru's bored and/or aggravated sighing, or somebody getting up to get the stiff feeling out of their legs or to simply use the bathroom.

As the group sat blankly and wordlessly inside of the cage, a sudden sparkle formed over the area that Midori was resting at.

"Aah!" Midori jumped back, quickly standing up and frantically pointing at the slightly shimmering ground. "There's...wh-what is that?!"

Ryo snorted, seemingly not disturbed by this. "Yeah, like we're suppossed to know."

The sparkling area grew in size and a small hissing sound came from the small sparkling part of the floor, making Midori nervously back up as far as possible and bump into Slicer from behind.

There was a sudden poof of bright white smoke, and it eventually cleared to reveal two figures that were very familar and sparked joy for some cage members and completely strange and unidentifiable to others.

Haku instantly stepped forward, looking around frantically with his hands on his hips. "Okay, where is she? You said she'd be here, Zabuza. Are you sure?" He turned to ask his master. Both he and Zabuza seemed to have not noticed any of the people in the cage at all yet.

"Yeah, Tarina's definately here. I'm just not sure where..." Zabuza said in a quiet, confused tone, scratching his head.

"Uh...h-hello?" Midori asked shakily, not knowing who the heck these weird people were. They were dressed just like how Tarina had arrived, in red and black robes.

Neither of them responded to Midori's softly voiced question, still frantically scanning the room for Tarina.

"Uuh, hey!!" Slicer called out to the two unsuspecting visitors. "Haku. Zabuza. Over here."

"Huh?!" Both of them turned in surprise.

Slicer smiled sarcastically and waved in an innocent, fake cheery manner as they looked at him.

"Oh!" Haku blushed, looking around and suddenly noticing all of the people inside of the cage. He had been so stressed out and obsessed over finding the runaway Tarina, he hadn't even noticed the staring shinobi surrounding him. He waved. "Hello."

Everybody just looked at him, half of the people either not knowing who in the world he was, or was just too startled by these sudden ghostly appearances.

"H-Haku? Zabuza?" Kamichi asked in disbelief, raising an eyebrown in suspicion yet looking very nervous at the same time. So many old faces...the mental pressure he was feeling now was overwhelming. He didn't know what to do, what to say...he didn't even know how to feel.

Haku turned, and then beamed excitedly. "Ohh! Kamichi, hi!"

"Uh...hi...?" Kamichi back smiled weakly, waving slightly, then sighing and looking away shamefully. Something about this was sort of embarassing, but he wasn't sure of exactly what it was.

He noticed that Haku had an entirely different appearance when it came to clothing. It was over a year later, and he still had that same pretty face, that same long hair (which was actually worn down this time), that same soft, easygoing child's voice, and the same heartwarming smile. It didn't exactly make Kamichi feel all fuzzy and happy inside. Just nervous and nostalgic.

"Wait...who _are_ you?" Masakaru finally asked loudly in a confused tone.

Zabuza scratched his head. "Uh, well...I'm Zabuza Momochi, and this is Haku." He said, guesturing to himself and Haku. Then, looking as if he suddenly remembered, he guestured to his sword, which was neatly strapped behind him. "Oh, and, uh...this is my Guillotine Sword. ...Don't touch it."

It made Haku smiled faintly when Zabuza had felt the need to introduce everybody to his own sword. He chuckled lightly. "We're basically old friends of the Kingpin Kunais. Ghost friends, actually. We just came here looking for Tarina. Anybody know where she's run off to?"

Masakaru wrinkled his brow. "Yeah. She was here before, but she had to go rescue Omari, who was captured by this evil guy named Nuboru. Why, do you need her for something?"

"We're just trying to keep her out of trouble," Zabuza said simply, sighing dramatically. "When we saw that she was gone, Haku got all worried and..." His voice trailed off as he looked over at Haku for support.

Haku looked fretful all of a sudden. "Tarina's not suppossed to leave our world, so we thought something happened to her. We know how she likes to get into mischeif and stuff, too. She's really a tough one to handle...even though she's over ten years older than I am." He said before letting out a nervous laugh.

"How'd you guys manage to track her down here?" Zamu asked curiously.

Haku shrugged. "It's easy finding a ghost's trail. Everywhere any ghost heads off to, they leave this brightly colored, sparkly trail of dust behind them that only other ghosts can see. We followed that trail, and we ended up here."

Everybody shrugged in response. That had seemed to make sense.

Haku stepped forward to look around the cage some more, but then stepped on and tripped over the still sleeping Hikaru. He let out a slight cry, then landed on the ground next to him.

Hikaru jumped from the sudden impact of Haku's weight on his back and quickly awoken. "Wha- huh?! Whaddya want?!" He yelled out frantically, whipping his head around side-to-side.

Hirokazu shivered, grabbed his veil, and put it over his head from the dark, damp corner he was sitting over at.

Haku sat up from the ground, shook his head to get the weird feeling out of his head, took one glance at the shocked and confused Hikaru, then started to laugh heartily from his klutzy mistake as Zabuza sighed in high disapproval.

Hikaru rubbed his eyes and blinked at the ghostly boy who had stepped on him. "Haku?!" He had almost forgotten about Hirokazu and the battle with Kamichi now. He knew it was a situation that couldn't be helped. He would deal with and probably beat up on Hirokazu with Tarina when she returned and everything with Omari was settled. Right now, he was too shocked to see his old friend that he had only seen in dreams for the past year.

Haku smiled shyly in a way that was enough of a greeting.

"Um..." Hikaru looked uncertain all of a sudden, thinking about Omari. Haku was bound to see Omari sooner or later (since she was guarunteed to be rescued by Tarina)...what if they kissed when they saw each other? It would be so awkward...would Haku know that Hikaru...?

"It's okay," Haku said simply to him, in a sympathetic tone. He said nothing more after that.

"...What?" Hikaru looked confused. Could Haku read his thoughts or something? The two words sounded so out of place and random without any backround dialogue from another person...

Haku shrugged. "I mean what I said. It's okay. Don't worry about a thing," he said, shooting Hikaru the sly, intelligent-looking _you know what I mean _look. There were few people in the world who could give that look and have the person actually understand the complex message within.

Understanding with great embarassment, Hikaru merely nodded with a blank expression.

Zabuza looked down and away sadly, sighing. "I just knew where Tarina was...not that I care especially, though..." He added quickly with a small blush, something that he barely ever did.

Haku gave Zabuza a soft smile. "It's okay that you're worrying about her, Zabuza. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just lo-"

Zabuza quickly interrupted before Haku said the dreaded word. "No! I-It's not that. I-I...I just don't want to see the little pest get hurt, that's all."

"If you didn't like her, then you wouldn't care," Masakaru pointed out randomly. "I-I've heard alot about you in the past...no offense, but you're not exactly the person who cares about the lives of alot many people."

Zabuza cackled. There was no offense taken. Someone saying that he wasn't exactly a lovable, walking teddy bear was actually a relieving compliment to him. "Listen, guys, I just want to find the kid and get outta here." Everybody knew that Tarina was no kid, but her personality type just proved to be that kind of label to Zabuza. He had always found it kind of cute, but never dared to say that to anybody else, including Tarina. It would completely ruin Zabuza's reputation, and Tarina would be all over him by now if he had said anything about her being attractive.

Haku looked uneasy. "Well, we can't exactly do that right now, Sir."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Well, we've basically locked ourselves into the cage in hopes of finding Tarina. ...Did you even _know_ that we're in a cage, Zabuza?" Haku asked.

Zabuza wordlessly looked around for a few moments, not even realizing what kind of area he had teleported himself into. He closed his eyes, deeply frustrated by this new realization. "...Oh."

Haku sighed. "The ghost dust trail ends here. I thought there was a good chance she'd be in here, but...I guess we're outta luck. There might be a continued dust trail somewhere outside of this cage, but the bars somehow retain our Teleportation Jutsus. They're pretty strong."

"So...what are you guys going to do? I mean, Tarina might not be back for a while, so, how are you going to get anywhere?" Hikaru asked as he comfortably sat near Haku on the super-hard ground.

Haku shrugged, now sitting down in a comfortable criss-cross position. It was clear that he didn't plan on going anywhere at the moment. "Well...I guess there's nothing we can do. Breaking out and being at the risk of getting caught is such a burden...we shouldn't take any chances. The most we can do right now is wait."

_**...Go To The Next Chapter!...**_

_**Yeah, some of you may have found this chapter kind of corny or boring or something, but at least it tells you what happens next. And hopefully, Haku's appearance will please some people besides me. I'm sorry I couldn't get this out on the 9th, but I was completley slammed with homework and I had a bunch-a places to go yesterday evening. Yup, totally busy. Sorry about that! My mid-terms AND my bowling tournaments are comin' up soon, so I have to study hard, practice with my arm, and work on this story a bit less only for about a week or so. But, when the testing and bowling ends, things will go much faster. I promise. :)**_

_**Also, I'm very relieved that the Tarina thing's cleared up as well as it did. My own cousins were the ones who were most confused, and it's kind of a funny thing because they're always over my shoulder (when at my house), reading as I type and talk to them. In case any of my readers have somehow gotten confused, Tarina's hair doesn't turn golden OR red (THIS ISN'T DRAGONBALL Z!), and she certainly isn't ''stalking'' or ''trying to get'' Midori for any purpose whatsoever. My cousins are always making up weird and/or crude short stories about Tarina and Midori and then they beg me to put them on Fanfiction (even though I flatly refuse). Please don't ask about those... -.-'**_

_**Ahh, anyway, if you have any questions, just leave a review or send me a message. See you next time! I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!**_


	7. The Ultimate Mission: 7: Memories

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 7: Memories...**_

_**The only thing I have to say at the beginning of this chapter is that this is mainly including bits of Tarina's past. It gives a little introduction of what she is doing right now in the Avalanche Temple, and then the rest is just her past and various memories about her childhood that come up as she gazes at the Sunrise Demon's closed chamber. Tarina's recalling some stuff, not that complex of a plot here. We're taking a small break from all of that fighting and suspense, okay? All of this intense action that you've been reading lately...it ain't good for ya. We need some sort of relaxation here. :)**_

_**Basically, this is just a chapter that fills you in on what exactly happened when Tarina was a kid. Lots of people hate these kinds of chapters, but, uh, you might just have to deal with it since it's the only way to totally understand what's going on here with the Hikaru-Tarina-Masami-Hirokazu incident. It was too long for just a section of a chapter, so I just decided to extend it and make it into a whole chapter. Sorry this took so long; I had a huge load of projects and midterms, so that kept me pretty busy.**_

_**And if you hate Tarina and/or absolutely need more Haku, then, well...too bad. Haku and the others are coming back next chapter, so don't worry! **_

_**Yes, it's short and you may not have much patience, but hey, Tarina's probably the cutest character I've come up with yet. And I'm not ashamed to say I'm pretty proud of her. (wipes tear)**_

_**If you more critical readers find this chapter absolutely unacceptable in terms of quality, then I don't blame you at all. I'm just using this little chapter as something to help out people who don't know what exactly is happening, along with using it as a thing to occupy you while I work on the longest and most difficult chapters that involve the current plot. Trust me, this story is getting harder and harder to write and keep up with when considering the huge, complex, emotion-filled story and dialogue. But...the harder, the more fun!**_

_**ALSO! This is very important; something I almost forgot!! You MUST understand that this chapter isn't happening right now in the plot. No. It is actually happening after Tarina has entered the Avalanche Temple and BEFORE she goes to see her friends in the cage. So, all of this is happening in the past, and I couldn't give you this chapter earlier because it would give too much away.**_

_**Happy Reading!! You BETTER enjoy this (just kidding):)**_

_**...About 12 Hours Ago...**_

Tarina stared at the giant door, not even two feet away from it. She and everything else around her was completley silent, including the violent-looking whips of chakra still surrounding her. She was captivated, unblinking, felt that she would drop dead if any type of force moved her away by any means necessary. Her charm was dribbling, but she didn't care. She couldn't even feel it. Her whole body was numb.

She felt deprived and weak, just standing in front of that silent, grand-looking door. She wanted it to open somehow like the Midnight Demon's did when Hikaru arrived, but it just wasn't happening. Tarina was disappointed. She didn't want to be repossessed or anything, but just wanted to be within the dark-light atmosphere of the demon. To be in her precense and feel the full earth-shaking force of that glorious demonic power. She wanted the demon to talk to her. Anything like that would have been fine.

When a bright red shade began forming over her left eye and everything started to blur, Tarina finally realized what was going on. She lifted her hand and wiped the blood from her eye with the sleeve, and sniffled.

The Sunrise Demon's chamber itself just brought back too many memories, even if half of them didn't have to do with the demon at all. Most of them were sad memories, about her childhood. The chamber brought back the old memories that involved confusion, discovery, and eventually tragedy.

Unlike many rogue ninja, Tarina actually _had_ a childhood, and a fairly decent one at that. Well, at least _half _of a fairly decent childhood.

She was born into a good home, was girlishly pampered from birth, was fed well, and was given toys. The only thing was, Tarina had the most timid parents in the world.

Masami and Kagemaru loved Tarina, but always seemed hesitant around her and were always scared of her getting into trouble or into anybody's way, even though Tarina was quite an angelic child.

They were always trying to cover up her head with a pretty pink hat. Tarina had always thought of their weird yet beautiful sun charm as a gift, something that made her special. Her mother had it, too, as well as two other beautiful charms that were shaped like a star and a moon. Masami was always careful to cover up her charms as well as try to protect Tarina's charm, too.

Seven-year-old Tarina had no idea what in the world those charms were for. She thought they were pretty, and just a hereditary trait that simply made her physically different than anybody else.

Little did she know.

Tarina couldn't help herself. It was just too much to let go of those memories. And so, without further movement or thoughts, she let herself get wrapped up and eventually lost inside of the suffocating ocean of memories.

_**...About 19 Years Ago...**_

The alarm clock rang. It was 6:30.

Masami flinched at the loud, horrible ring that got her tense nerves in motion and turned over in the large, comfortably warm bed. Her husband was already off to work, and she would have stayed in bed longer, but she knew that she had to walk her daughter to school at the local ninja academy right away. She knew that her kid was very capable of getting to school by herself, but Masami had to make sure she'd get there safely.

Masami yawned and slowly sat up, lazily pushing the heavy covers away from her and finding the strength to stand. She slipped on her house shoes and shuffled towards the small bedroom across the hallway, where she nearly tripped on an abandoned rubber duck.

She peeked her head through the doorway and at her sleeping daughter, speaking in a soft, gentle tone of voice. "Sweetie..."

A tiny yet beautiful blue-haired child poked her head out of the soft pink covers that had helped her sleep the night before. She beamed, not looking the least bit tired. "Mommy!"

Masami uneasily returned the smile, twiddling her thumbs all the while. "Yes...g-good morning. It's time to get ready for school now, okay?" She knew she wouldn't have to ask her twice.

"Okay!" The child giddily replied before hopping out of bed and immediately starting to get dressed for school.

This kind of overall attitude was rare, maybe even unnatural for a seven-year-old girl to have, but it was easy for Masami to handle. Her daughter took everything seriously when it came to being serious, handled chores and work with pleasure, never complained, never pouted, was never spoiled or loud, and only cried when she was sick or involuntarily hurt herself (like scraping her knee or stubbing her toe).

Masami smiled to herself as she watched her little girl start to pull previously ironed clothes from her neatly organized closet and set them on the bed. She then walked away, sort of proud that she had raised such a brilliant little child. Sure, it was a bit scary now and then to see her do something that some adults couldn't even do, but it just told Masami that she had done well.

A few minutes later, Masami was sitting on the couch in her regular clothes and shoes with a cup of coffee in her hand, waiting for her child to finish getting ready. Masami looked up at the upper floor and could hear quick little footsteps that sounded as though they were in a hurry.

Just as Masami was about to call out for her to hurry, her daughter had already run down the stairs and to her mother, who was waiting for her. "I'm aaall ready!" The girl said merrily.

Masami smiled as she stood, straightening out her clothes and heading towards the door. "Good girl, Sayomi. Now, let's get going."

The girl frowned. "Mom-_meee_, I thought you said you wouldn't call me that anymore."

Masami stopped turned to give her daughter a confused look. "Sayomi? Why can't I call you that? You're acting like it's some sort of nasty nickname. I'm only using the name I gave you."

"But I don't really like that name," her daughter said plainly without a trace of whininess in her voice. "I told you that I liked the name Tarina better."

Masami looked even more perplexed. It was such an odd name; nobody in the entire land was named that. Where did she even hear that name from? "Why Tarina?"

Tarina shrugged, making a pitifully innocent face that told her mother that there was no true meaning to this decision to be called by a different name. "I don't know. I just like it. I think it better suits me, that's all."

Masami blinked. "Suits what? Your personality? Your appearance? Because you certainly don't _look_ like a Tarina..."

Tarina wrinkled her brow, lightly shuffling her feet on the floor while looking down at them. "I never really thought I looked like a _Sayomi_, either."

Masami then smiled, giving in to her daughter's cuteness. It was just too much for her. Sure, it disappointed Masami that her daughter wasn't satisfied with her name, but there was just no way she could win over her little seven-year-old. "Okay, okay. I'll think about it. We'll talk more about it _after _school, alright?"

Little Tarina's face instantly lit up. "Okay!" she said, happy that her mother would consider calling her by the name that she desired.

"Okay, then. Now, I've got to get you to school. C'mon." Masami said quickly as she led her daughter out of the door and into the chilly winter air.

About ten minutes later, the two had arrived at the front of the ninja academy, where all of the chilly students were rushing inside in a very chaotic manner. Masami sighed, then leaned down and gave her daughter a small kiss on the cheek. "Be good, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy..." Tarina replied loyally, giving Masami a quick hug before starting to run off towards the school door. "Bye! I'll see you later!"

"Bye, sweetie! Be safe and make sure to leave your cap on!" Masami called out after her.

Tarina was tempted to say _what for?_, but decided that the best thing to do was to just obey her mother without questioning it. "I- okay, Mommy! See you after school!" she called back, waving from ahead.

_Why does she make me cover up the pretty sun on my head? _Tarina couldn't help thinking as she rushed inside of the academy and into her proper classroom and front-row seat just in time before class begun. _She makes it seem so bad. I always thought my charm was something that made me special..._

Moments later, the stern yet kind-looking female sensei that was going to be directing the class stepped to the front of the room and started to dish out directions that was for the upcoming test. No cheating, no bathroom breaks, no talking.

Tarina loved tests, even though she rarely had to study for them. Tests really put her mind in gear, something that she could do to prove her smarts. Sure, good test grades didn't exactly make you a smart person, but Tarina liked being admired by fellow classmates and teachers. It made her feel...well, good. Important and looked up to. Like a hero.

As the sensei was finishing up giving out the directions and writing utensils for the exam, Tarina's ears perked up as she heard a hissing, whispery conversation start up directly behind her. It was two of the larger, more brutish boys in the classroom. She didn't turn or make it significant that she was eavesdropping, since the conversation was about her.

_"I'll bet that little rat Tarina's gonna get the best grade in the class, just watch!" _one of the boys snarled to the friend he was sitting next to.

Little rat? The boy said this as if she was a scheming little tattletale that always went right through the sensei's radar. She had never done a thing to hurt anybody! Little Tarina frowned from ahead but still didn't say anything. She knew not to instigate.

The other boy sneered back. _"Yeeah, just like she always does. Y'know, it's just not fair. She only gets good grades because she gets extra attention from the senseis all of the time. I bet they give her ALL the answers."_

_What a horrible rumor! _Tarina thought with anger. The teachers had never told her a single answer to anything before. They didn't even have to tell her, since it was just so simple.

_"And what about that hat Tarina wears, huh?" _the first boy hissed over to the other. _"It's no fair how she gets to wear stuff on her head during school and we don't."_

_"I know! It's stupid, isn't it?!" _The other boy said back. _"It's just favoritism. Pure favoritism. They let her do stuff ust because she's so "cute" and "gifted". I wish they'd just make her a ninja already so she could just leave us all alone."_

_Jealous morons, _Tarina thought hotly as the sensei came around and handed her an exam booklet. She angrily whipped out her own special pen and got right to work, trying to keep her mind off of her mean classmates.

This was the only flaw that school had in Tarina's mind. Mean classmates. Almost none of the kids liked her because she was so ''perfect''. She was by far the youngest student in the class, and she was only trying to do her best and make her parents proud. She never acted arrogant and conceited. She never talked about anybody else in a negative way. And she never tattled unless one student was severely beating up on another, which was once every so often.

Tarina just didn't know why the other kids wouldn't stop cursing her behind her back, but it sure was distracting.

Being the star student wasn't easy, and Tarina only enjoyed it because she liked that personal sense of pride and she liked to feel her parents' pride as well.

Tarina had finished the entire test and checked her answers over in fifteen minutes flat. She placed her pen down and sighed as the sensei came back over to her, smiled gently, and collected her test.

Tarina put her head down and closed her eyes. All was well when it came to family and school, but there was just something that was troubling her lately. She had never let the boys' critisism get to her so much before. There was just something that...

She then came to a sudden realization. It was her father that was troubling her.

Tarina's father, Kagemaru, never seemed to be too impressed with her hard work. Sure, he forced a smile when his daughter told him excitedly about her perfect grades, but never seemed too entusiastic. He seemed tense, nervous, and...almost..._scared_ of her.

Scared to be around her. Scared to hug and kiss her. And he wouldn't even go _near _Tarina's forehead or capped area, which puzzled Tarina half to death. Masami had always been the one to sneak into Tarina's bedroom and take it off while she was asleep. Whenever Tarina or Masami mentioned anything that was about charms, Kagemaru flinched and sometimes even excused himself from the room.

Her dad had always seemed kind of tense and jittery, even around his own wife, but over the years of Tarina's early childhood, it was just getting worse and worse. He soon payed no attention to her and tried to avoid her, and Tarina was the one who had to poke his arm and ask him to play a game.

It was making Tarina upset. It made her feel like she was something bad, just a _thing_ that was doing something wrong simply by being in his presence. She felt like some sort of bad grade that her father feared was going to hurt his average.

Nevertheless, Tarina had always stayed loyal to her beloved father. She didn't stop trying to catch his attention, to truly impress him with an accomplishment that would make his gloomy silver eyes light up. Something so good that he would want to hug and kiss her on the forehead. Something that made him want to talk to her and play with her. Something that made him want to change his attitude and love her back.

Tarina sighed softly and buried her face in her hands. It was just too stressful. Tarina was very young and somewhat naive in some topics, but she knew that a supergenius seven-year-old wasn't suppossed to have stress. Not like this.

The sensei suddenly looked up from her test-correcting post, beaming over at her depressed-looking star pupil. "Congratulations, Sayomi. Another perfect score for you."

Groans and heavy sighs came from every direction in the classroom. This announcement was no surprise.

_It's TARINA..._ Tarina thought angrily as she raised her head, forced a little proud smile at her teacher with a small nod. She had once asked her teacher to call her Tarina like most of the other students did, but the sensei had always seemed to forget.

Usually, Tarina wouldn't mind her teacher calling her Sayomi by accident. Usually, she would have been happy about the perfect test score and the air that was heavy with envy from the other students. Usually.

But this time, there was no pride. There was no happiness or mental patience with her sensei.

Something was definately wrong.

_**...Later That Same Day...**_

The school day was finally over.

That meant Tarina's father would be home from work by the time she arrived back at the house.

Instead of her mother coming to pick her up, Tarina had walked home by herself that day, since the sun had some out and most of the early December snow had melted into puddles or muck already.

As she walked, Tarina decided what she was going to do to catch her father's attention for once and make him love her. Maybe she could tell him about all of the good things the sensei had said about her. Maybe she could make him a nifty clay sculpture, or something related to that. Her father loved art.

Or, maybe she could just come right out and ask her father what his problem was, why he never played with her and was always afraid to come near her, as if she was about to bite his head off.

Tarina smiled gently to herself as she fixed the shoulder straps to her small pink backpack. Yes, that was what she would do. She would just talk to him, try to make him feel comfortable around her again, and apologize for whatever she did to make him so scared.

She just hoped that it would work.

So, satisfied with her newly made-up plan, she skipped merrily towards her house, cutting though a very large grassland, humming a cheerful tune to herself to pass the time. She felt a hundred-percent better now because of the self-assurance that everything was going to be okay.

Moments later, Tarina came to a sudden halt, breathing heavily. A strong, unexpected feeling rang through her body, one that she could not identify at all. Her heart was pounding, and at first, she thought with horror that she might be getting a heart attack, but...somehow she knew it didn't have to do with that.

It was more like a sensation. Something was terribly wrong. Something bad was coming. The skin on her forehead suddenly grew numb and started to vibrate, something that had never happened before. Tarina cried out and ripped off her cap, putting a hand to feel her charm. It was soaking wet with blood.

Tarina gasped as she caught sight of the stain of blood in her hand. She looked down to see that her pink hat was ruined and soaked as well. This was an experience she had never faced before. It was frightening. She didn't know what to do or think, and she then came to the belief that she was going to die.

There was a sudden circle of large shadows that surrounded her, ones that were shaped like people. Tarina didn't look long to absorb the details. She was on the ground, too busy gasping for breath, not familiar with that horrid, something's-definatley-wrong feeling, not believing the amount of blood pouring from her forehead and the weird vibrations.

One of the shadowy figures then grinned, grabbed Tarina's small, skinny arm, and lifted her up into the air. Tarina screamed out in a panic as the person, most likely a muscular man, tried to snag her, kicking and throwing out wild punches with her other hand.

But her scream seemed to do the most damage. There came a sudden vibration in her mouth, one that heated her whole head and gave her an instant headache. Chakra that was spread out through her entire body and massive amounts moving up to her throat and mouth area and converting into some type of painfuly raw energy...

The shadowy-looking man that had grabbed her suddenly stopped shaking her around, giving her a stunned yet perplexed look. The scream had let out a huge vibration that shook the entire elevated grassland he and his troop were all standing upon.

Another younger man dressed in a chakra-enhancing suit quickly stepped in, wide eyed. "Let her go, let her go! I think she's about to attack!" He cried out to his partner over Tarina's grunting and screaming in a frightened voice. He was obviously alarmed by the huge shock wave that had come from Tarina's scream.

"Yikes!" The first man said quickly before dropping the screaming and crying Tarina to the ground and jumping out of the way.

Just then, an involuntary burst of a brilliant purple light came shooting out of little Tarina's mouth as she was dropped to the floor. The brilliant stream of power shot out of the tiny girl and zoomed right past the place where the leader was standing just a few moments ago, blowing up a small area of land. He was very lucky that he had moved just in time. Otherwise, he would have been killed or at least severely injured.

Tarina just sat there, shaking, blindly staring at the scorched ground where the burst of energy had hit. She had never witnessed such immense power before, not even from her sensei let alone herself! What _was_ that? Did it have to do with her charm? And why did...?

She couldn't move or feel anything, let alone know what was going on. Her head was pounding, and she still felt that something was happening far away from this place, something very wrong and terrible. It was such a weird feeling...she had never sensed so much danger before.

"Alright, it's over! Let's grab the little runt while she's still in shock!" The leader of the troop cried, putting both hands under her armpits and hoisting poor, defenseless Tarina into the air. He and the rest of his armored gang then quickly departed from the grassland, off to take Tarina to some unknown place.

Tarina was still in too much to fight back. Everything was a blur, either because of her overpowering headache or because her kidnapper was running way too fast for her eyes to follow. She didn't know where she was headed to. The blurred environment around her soon became very dark.

A few long, agonizingly confusing minutes went by and Tarina's lead kidnapper finally skidded to a stop and then forcefully locked little Tarina into a chokehold position, sort of in a threatening manner.

Tarina grunted and squirmed, but knew that she couldn't win the struggle. She just had to deal with what was coming to her. She couldn't move her head around much, but realized that she was in a very dark, damp, unfamiliar cave with reddish chained lights strung up against the walls. Shifty-looking men in similar chakra-enhancing suits stood formally against the wall, seeming to be guarding something in the center of the cave wall...

Little Tarina gasped in fright and shock, tears automatically filling her eyes as she saw who was being held captive by the scary armored ninja. "D-Daddy!!"

Kagemaru, who was trapped against the wall by two ninja blocking his way with two long spears, looked over at his daughter. He looked like he had been beaten for hours. His face was scratched, his blue hair was mangled, his clothes were tattered and bloody. He finally found the strength to speak. "Sayomi..."

Tarina started to sob, kicking and squirming at the lead ninja who was still holding her in a strong hold. "No! No! Let me go! I want to see my daddy! Please!!" She screamed, the shrill echoes in the cave peircing everybody's ears.

"Shut up!!" The leader snarled, using his free hand to slam a fist into Tarina's stomach and letting her go with the other.

Poor Tarina was sent flying towards the other side of the cave, slamming into the hard wall and making a few rocks from above tumble onto the hard floor upon which she fell.

"Nooooo!! Sayomi!" Kagemaru screeched tearfully.

Tarina moaned softly as she started to open her eyes, and more tears of pain and mixed emotions poured out of them. Her father had never called out her name with such...concern.

Her throat was raw and sore from the screaming that she had done. Her stomach was pounding as well as her head as she just lay on the floor spread-eagled, without any type of movement except for the occasional twitching when she sniffled. The mixed emotions suddenly started to harden into pure anger, the sun charm suddenly sending waves of strange thoughts inside of her head.

Tarina suddenly hated her father. He only was concerned because she was, for some reason, being held against her will. The group of armored ninja obviously wanted something from Kagemaru in return for Tarina's life, and he only cared because she was about to be killed. He never cared any other time.

The leader sneered over at the shaking, severely hurt girl from afar, and then strided over to where the beaten Kagemaru was being held. "Alright, Kagemaru. Now that we've got your daughter...surrender the Midnight and Nova potions and we'll let you and her go."

"I swear to you I don't have them!" Kagemaru cried out, wide-eyed. "My wife and I disposed of those items long ago!"

"Hah!!" The leader cackled, hands on his hips. "That's EXACTLY what you said when we asked you for the Sunrise Potion. And look at the result of your lie." He pointed over at Tarina.

Tarina sensed that somebody was pointing and looking at her and was as puzzled as ever. Sunrise potion? Result? She was a result of a potion? This made her think of the sun charm for a moment, but she just couldn't make sense of the situation at hand and what it had to do with anything.

Kagemaru looked even more alarmed. "Masami drank the potion long before you captured me the first time!" He lied.

The leader shook his head. "No, she didn't. To get rid of the potion and suspicion that you stole it, you tricked Masami into drinking the concoction, thinking that nothing would happen. This happened exactly seven years, ten months, and eleven days ago. Masami was then pregnant with the Sunrise Demon's child a few weeks later. I'm not stupid, you know. Now, hand the two potions over or die!"

Tarina was listening to all of this, not knowing what the heck was going on. However, whatever the leader was babbling triumphantly about, Tarina found it depressing. There was obviously something that her parents had never told her.

"I-I can't! I don't have them right now! They're still hidden at my home!" Kagemaru said in a begging tone. "Just please don't- aaaagggh!" He screamed out as the lead ninja suddenly zoomed over and swiftly stabbed him with a weird type of kunai.

Tarina suddenly sat up in response to her father's scream, gasping. _"Daaaaddyyyy!"_ She screamed out as he crumpled to the floor, injured. He most likely wasn't going to die, but Tarina's father's blood had sent her mind into absolute madness.

Her voice seemed to echo...more than it did before. Everything became a blur, and she was seeing double. The faint laughter of the lead ninja...everything made her more enfuriated than before. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't thinking correctly; her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She hated her father, but the sight of another's blood...and she just sort of felt sorry for him...

There was suddenly a deep, dark female's voice inside of her head, cackling. _"Heh...finally, my time has come. I was wondering when you'd finally activate your power, stupid little brat..."_

The voice had shaken Tarina, yet sparked something familiar and scary inside of her. It made her even more crazy than before, making her eyes go bloodshot and red and a furry golden tail and ears popping out of her skin. She then let out an involuntary huge bellow that was something mixed between her own voice, a wolf's howl, and a demonic cat's screech. She somehow got herself to her numbed feet, still not able to think clearly.

Everybody turned and stared at the shakily standing, ferociously growling little girl standing in the corner of the cave, with a huge flare of sun-colored chakra around her. Her charm had stopped bleeding, but was now glowing bright gold.

_"No..." _Kagemaru whispered gravely, looking up from the bloody floor, eyes widened, shaking his head. He then became more alarmed all of a sudden, more pained by Tarina's partial transformation. _"Noooo!!"_

The majority of the ninja yelped and stayed back, with the leader just standing there in the middle of the room, shaking, unable to move, with the weird kunai made out of stone still remaining in his hand.

_"Get away from my daddy! Aaaaaahh!!"_ Tarina screamed out furiously, charging at the leader in midair at amazing speed, not having any type of fist or weapon ready.

Before the leader ninja could make a defensive move or get out of the way, Tarina then slammed her whole powered-up body into the leader's body, her new form so sharply empowered that it actually ripped right through him.

Tarina's empowered body then shot out of the other side of the lead ninja's body, and then she landed onto the ground, covered in guts and gooey globs of bluish-red blood and veins. She coughed, the chakra flare finally dying down. She then lay there, motionless, eyes shut.

Everybody else just stared in horror as the corpse of the leader ninja still just stood there, looking shocked, with a seven-year-old person-shaped hole went right through the middle of it. The remains then fully dissolved at that moment, leaving nothing but the Stone Kunai on the floor.

Everything and everybody was suddenly silent. Kagemaru had never looked or been so frightened in his life, probably along with the rest of the group.

One of the men who had helped take Tarina away, probably the co-leader, finally found the strength and courage to speak. He could not believe what he had just seen. Tarina's demon shouldn't have been activated for another eleven years, according to the legend. "Th-that...that d-demon...th-there's no chance we could win over it..."

"Let's get outta here before it wakes up!" One man yelled. Moments later, the other ninja all started to scream and shout in confused, frightened rambles.

"I can't believe that little brat killed our leader!"

"What about the potions and Kagemaru!?"

"Forget about Kagemaru! The demon will probably eat 'em up anyway!"

"Let's just GO!"

Soon, every single armored ninja quickly rushed out of the cave before the 'great demon' awoke, none of them even thinking of using a Teleportation Jutsu.

Kagemaru was still frozen against the wall, not able to take his eyes off of his blood-and-gut-covered daughter, who was still laying on the ground without movement.

A few seconds later, Tarina's eyes started to open. Everything was a blur, but soon became clear once again. In her vision, that is.

Tarina didn't remember what she had done to the armored ninja leader. She only remembered the past up to the point where she had been merrily skipping towards her house. She didn't recognize the cave. She didn't know why she was covered in blood and guts and would only come to remember her first kill many years later. But, there was only one thought that was stuck in her head from some sort of unknown origin. _I'm a freak._

Even though she didn't totally remember what had happened between the kidnapping and the burst of demon's power, she still recognized the Sunrise Demon's precense. It made her blood run cold, but it was intensely refreshing all the while. It felt _good._

Her personality, the whole bright, peppy energy that was always surrounding her turned completley around at that moment. Her perspective changed automatically as she slowly started to sit up, glancing down at her own bloody body. She grinned. "M-hmm-hmm..." she giggled in sort of a blood-lusting, hungry voice. Her eyes were still a bright red, but the tail and ears had retreated back into her skin.

Kagemaru didn't dare to move. He was shaking, practically glued upright to the wall despite his wounded, pounding stomach. _"S-S-Sayomi...?" _he let out a small, questioning whisper.

Tarina then whipped around to face her poor, frightened father, still grinning wildly. She could not think or see or hear clearly, but she could sense her loathed father's precense easily. _"Hee hee hee..."_

"S-Sayomi...I-I know that was very confusing, but...i-it's over. You're safe now...I..." Kagemaru gulped, choking on his words. The look in what used to be his tiny, sweet little daughter's eyes was absolutely petrifying. He wouldn't be surprised if he had simply died of fright at that moment. Neither would Tarina.

At that moment, Kagemaru realized that Tarina knew. Tarina knew that Masami and Kagemaru had purposely let those armored ninja take her temporarily hostage to protect themselves and the previously mentioned potions, and that they were really after her and the charm. Kagemaru would have never given up those potions to save Tarina's life, and he knew that his daughter knew that. He felt as guilty as ever and was now very, very frightened.

But...for some reason, Tarina didn't attack. There was just one last movement, one last guesture that the tiny, helpless, demon-stricken Tarina made towards her father.

It was a sneer.

It was a sneer that turned Tarina's bright, kind and soft-looking eyes into something permanently mischevious, sharp, and devious. Just a simple sneer which was the kind that laughed right in his face, which was probably making fun of his cowardliness. The _ha-ha-you-lose_ kind of sneer that sent an automatic shiver down her own father's spine.

And then she left.

Her father just stared, sweating and shaking, either not caring or not daring to move and run after her or even run to tell his wife what had happened.

There was just a simple puff of sparkling golden dust, and she was gone.

Even though the newly demon-stricken Tarina had left with a very triumphant look on her face, deep down, her heart had never ached so badly before.

_**...Three and a Half Years Later...**_

Tarina was free, but had not been happy.

She spent over three years roaming around the land, staying in abandoned hideout after hideout by herself, easily managing to stay clean and fed. But...everything that she had once cared about had just worn away.

Tarina eventually figured out why she had woken up in an entirely different place after the day she had killed the armored ninja and had ran away from her father. She accepted the demon that was inside of her and even talked to the demon once in a while in an attempt to be close to somebody once again. She didn't regret the choice because her parents were obviously selfish cowards, but it would have been nice to just go back in time and live her life the way it had used to be, with her being naive, pampered little girl who never knew what true bliss really felt like.

Even that was better than this, since she didn't even know the pure misery that was going on in her innocent, angelic little mind three and a half years ago. Tarina missed it more than anything.

She had also spent the three years terrorizing smaller, 'good-doer' shinobi that were caught while daring to go near Tarina's small, conquered peices of land.

After a while, the ten-and-a-half year old Tarina had gotten bored of sitting around in her home village, beating up on innocent/helpless little boys or girls who happened to be passing by. She decided to travel to the Hidden Mist Village without a plan, without bringing anything but her own pocket change, without the motivation or personal right to speak, fight, and even live.

Tarina grew tired.

And so, on the night where she had decided that enough was enough, she traveled on towards the Hidden Mist Village.

And obviously, since it was the Village Hidden in the Mist, well...the journey was hard and...very misty.

Tarina knew exactly where the Hidden Mist was; she could figure out where any location was due to the amazing quality of senses, given to her by the Sunrise Demon. The only problem was getting through the storm that unfortunately half-surrounded the entire area in a protective, psychotically swirling manner.

But, the raging, wet and misty storm didn't stop Tarina. Anything, and she meant _anything_, was better than the past two lifestyles she had been living in. Even if it meant the lifestyle of a brutal death, which really wouldn't last long.

Little Tarina stopped in her tracks as she looked around. She couldn't really see anything, and the winds pushing against her were making her feet slide back into the mud, even though she was trying to control the chakra on her feet so they would stick. And then, something very horrible happened that pretty much sealed her fate.

She lost all balance, tripped, and fell.

Now, usually, tripping and falling onto the muddy ground isn't a big deal for most unless they're in some special party dress. But when the winds are more powerful than both you and your chakra endurance, and you're knocked out of concentration, then it can get dangerous.

The impact on the ground for Tarina was very light, since the moment she hit the ground she was starting to rise up into the air due to the winds. Tarina had the ability to control the material in her body with chakra so she could fly around a bit, but even that couldn't break away from what was about to happen to her.

Tarina cried out and flailed all over the place, her eyes filling up with rain and tears, as she was beginning to be swept away. It was hopeless. There was nothing to grab onto, or at least nothing Tarina could see. Everything was wet and blurry. She was being whirled around mercilessly, as if all four directions of winds was playing catch with her.

Soon, she was swept up further into the grey, swirling air as the storm picked up even more, and unfortunately, a loose, flying mailbox ended up going in the same direction as Tarina and it slammed right into the side of her head.

Tarina was instantly unconcious.

_**...Many Hours Later...**_

_Mm...where am I?_

The first thought that rang through Tarina's sleepy head instantly made her sit up with a jolt as she remembered what had happened last night. That storm...the Hidden Mist Village...

Tarina looked down to find herself in a medium-sized bed, wrapped up in blue wool blankets. She then gasped and looked around frantically, this place not familiar to her at all.

Her new location was in a cozy little bedroom with wooden floors, with wooden shelves lined up against the walls, covered with little strange trinkets and antiques. It was obviously an adult's room and house that she was in. Huuh. Weird.

_"...Where the heck am I?!" _ Tarina thought aloud, kicking the covers off of her and looking around. She was partially relieved that she was alive and had been given another chance in this world, but partially angry that a stranger had just come by, saved her, and wrapped her up in a cozy little bed. It somehow bothered her and made her feel deeply aggravated.

At this point, all alone in the little room where she had been transferred to, Tarina had begun to wonder why this person would save her in the first place. Didn't he or she know Tarina was a feared rogue ninja, a selfish, cocky demon child that everybody was used to running away from? Why did Tarina even decide to go to the Hidden Mist Village and not anywhere else? It was just...an automatic feeling, an urge...

Tarina jumped and stared at the closed door, involunatrily trembling as some light-sounding footsteps headed for what sounded to be her room. Tarina was tempted to hide back under the covers in shame and fright, but gulped and kept her cool.

The footsteps stopped in front of the door, and soon, the doorknob was starting to turn. Tarina glared in the door's direction, ready to make the toughest impression ever to show her savior that she wasn't a passive, weak little female that wasn't to be messed with.

The door swung open to reveal a peaceful yet whimsical-looking man, about sixty or so, dressed in a large brown robe with a small chocolate-colored kitten on his shoulder. He had sort of a wise, experienced look to him, so Tarina was pretty sure he had been a shinobi once before. He smiled as he caught sight of Tarina with his small, wrinkly old eyes. "So, you have finally awaken."

Tarina just stared. A little old man and his kitten? This wasn't what she had been expecting at all. "Uuh..."

The old man stepped forward and eyed Tarina even more closely, looking her right in the forehead. "Hmm...I can tell that it's active."

Active? Was this guy referring to her demon? Tarina didn't know how or why he would know/want to know this stuff, but he was already weirding her out.

The old man then broke his thoughtful stare and chuckled as he looked at Tarina kindly. "My name is Atoshi, by the way. What's yours, young one?"

Little Tarina scowled at him, pointing furiously. "_I'm_ not tellin' _you_ nothin' until_ you _tell _me_ what _I'm_ doing _here_!" For some reason, a part of her didn't want to be rude to this Atoshi guy. She had never really talked to an elderly person before, but knew how wise and resourceful they were. She wanted to respect him, but was too ashamed to admit her feelings.

Atoshi snorted. "Quite a whiny little thing, aren't you? Not really one to respect your elders."

_"Piss off..."_ Tarina growled quietly, looking away grumpily. She hated when she was spoken to like a small child doing something bad.

Atoshi wrinkled his brow, still smiling in amusement. "Now that's quite a dirty mouth you have there. Where'd you pick that up from, anyway? It's not very ladylike, you know."

Tarina hated to admit it, but dang, this guy had some serious tolerance.

"Ladylike my butt," Tarina retorted, snapping her head up to look at him angrily. "I'm _not_ a _lady_, anyway. I-I don't care what you say about me, anyway. I just don't care."

Tarina was being brattier than usual, and she knew that. But she was just so teeth-grindingly angry all of a sudden...her fists clenched and then she looked away in guilt, sighing.

Atoshi looked down at her, hands on his hips. "Now, young one, since you're too blunt and nervous to ask why you ended up here, I'll just tell you so you can be free of any type of mental hassle."

Tarina didn't reply.

Atoshi chuckled. "Well, you may actually be surprised, but...I opened my door in the middle of the night after hearing a thump, and there you were, lying on my doorstep, beaten bloody and soaking wet."

Tarina looked down at herself without a sound. She wasn't wet anymore, but her clothes were pretty torn-up. There was a large white bandage wrapped around her head that was tilted to the side to cover up the huge gash from the mailbox.

Atoshi nodded knowingly, eyes shut. "Mm-hmm. You looked horrible. You would have probably freezed to death. But luckily, Coco and I were able to transfer you into the house."

Tarina knew she should thank the man for saving her life and helping her dry up, but was still reluctant and wanted to show the guy she wasn't a kid. "...Oh."

Atoshi then smiled warmly. "Now, would you like a cup of tea?"

Tarina shook her head. She refused to give Atoshi the satisfaction of satisfying her. "No. You'll probably put cat crap into it."

Coco meowed loudly, blinking at Tarina curiously from his owner's shoulder.

Little Tarina scowled back at the cat.

Atoshi shrugged, the smile not leaving his face. He knew he would break Tarina in, just like a newly adopted dog. He knew who she was, and had sympathy. All she needed was a little time to regain her respect. "Alright, then. Would you like anything else?"

"No."

"You sure you'll be alright?" He tried once more.

"No..." Tarina then looked up with something slightly different in her eyes. Nobody had asked her that question before, even her mother. Of all of the phony kind things they had said to her, her parents never asked if Tarina was sure of anything. They never asked if she would be okay. They would just handle it for her and make every one of her choices for themselves.

Atoshi looked into her eyes and realized that there was something deeply wrong with them. They were beautiful silvery eyes, but they had taken on a permanently sharp, weird look and shape. An involuntary, inappropriately mischevious, demonic look. Not necessarily angry, but...troubled and unhappy.

Nobody was born with those kind of eyes.

Tarina was lost into the kind old man's eyes for an awkward moment, and they started to fill up. Grunting with shame and aggravation, Tarina tightly shut them immediately to break the heart-warming stare and buried herself under the covers again. "Uuugh! J-Just go away! I don't need anything! I don't need you!!"

Atoshi raised an eyebrow. "Don't need me? Well, I would never expect you to need me, even though you would be dead right now if I didn't take you in. ...Not to sound haughty or anything..."

Tarina threw the covers off of herself, eyes tearful and full of sad, guilty fury. _"I never asked you to save me! Maybe I wanted to die!"_

"Now, young one, why would you say such a thing? You have your whole life ahead of you, a mass of strength that could be used to accomplish so many things in this world..." Master Atoshi said.

"What do you know, anyway?!" Tarina cried. "It's not like I asked to stay at your house or anything! I never asked for anything! I never even seen you before or have known you for five minutes! Maybe I wanna leave right now!"

"Well, alright, then," Atoshi shrugged as he stepped off to the other side of the room and partially opened a large sunny window that Tarina hadn't even noticed before. The storm had obviously gone down in the Hidden Mist Village. He then turned and smiled innocently over at Tarina, guesturing towards it. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like, but you can leave anytime you're ready."

Tarina looked back at the window and then at Atoshi without much expression. Of course she didn't want to leave, but...what was she to do? Was this some kind of test?

Atoshi shrugged again as he started to walk away. "It's your choice, Tarina."

A pang of shock rang through Tarina's body. How did he know her name?! She had never told him such information. Tarina forced herself not to get freaked out by this, though. Maybe Atoshi had heard her talking in her sleep or something like that.

Tarina gulped and looked over at the sunny open window again when Atoshi was gone. It was her choice. She was basically choosing life or death. If she chose to stay under Atoshi's house rules, then she would live. If she decided to run away from this strange place, then she would pretty much be considered dead, since Tarina had no idea where she was and how to get back home.

Sure, she could probably figure out where her home land was using her senses, but she had no idea which first direction to take or anything. She was powerless, and had no food or resources. There was no way she could survive without the help of this old man.

She definately owed him an apology.

After a few more minutes of sitting on the bed silently, Tarina gathered up the last of her courage, stood from her bed while sighing dramatically, and walking towards the hallway where Atoshi had went to make himself some tea.

As Tarina walked towards where she thought Atoshi had went, she couldn't help looking around the house out of pure curiosity. The house had a woodsy appearance, probably because of the strong wooden structure of the walls and floors. It was a very cute little house, with antiques and trinkets decorating the place. In Tarina's mind, the house seemed very fit for a wise old man like Atoshi.

Tarina spotted the old man in the kitchen, who was busy pouring hot water into a small glass cup. Tarina blushed, modestly walking into the room with her head down. She felt so wrong after thinking about how she had previously spoken to him. "Um..." She hummed, mainly to get Atoshi's attention.

"Hmm?" Atoshi turned to look at her, but then smiled whimsically. "Ooh, look who it is. Did you change your mind about having some of my delicious tea? It's specially flavored with cat crap, you know."

Tarina would have normally laughed, because it seemed like something that an old guy would never say. But, she forced herself to keep a straight face. She scowled at him, deciding to take her time and stall Atoshi until she came up with a good apology speech. "Heeey, don't mock me. I didn't mean it like that."

Atoshi blinked. "Well, then what did you mean?"

Tarina hesitated for a moment before resuming to her normal glare. "I-I was just using it as an example to show you that I don't trust anybody."

Atoshi looked careless as he put the cup of tea down on the nearby counter. "Hey, don't you remember what I said? I'm not holding you hostage or anything. You don't trust me or like this place, then you can leave."

"I-I..." Tarina stammered, but then her fists clenched in aggravation. "Well, I _would_ leave if I could!"

Atoshi smiled. "And exactly why can't you leave?"

Tarina looked down. "Well, I..."

"Hmm?"

"I-I don't have anywhere else to go..." Tarina admitted with a sigh, then sniffled along with her eyes filling up with tears. She couldn't help it this time. It was impossible.

Atoshi sighed, looking down at her sadly. "Tarina...how did this ever happen to you? You were so beautiful and loyal...you would have become a great shinobi. Why did you let go?"

Tarina didn't even notice how he knew so much about her without her telling him anything. She just wanted to talk to him. She wiped away her tears, looking down, shaking her head. "I...I don't know..."

"Your parents...Masami and Kagemaru...you know very well that they loved you, even though they were afraid and weren't ready to take care of the child that would inherit the ancient demon spirit." Atoshi said sternly.

"No! Th-they didn't! You're wrong! They never loved me!" Tarina yelled defensively. "It's not like I left them for no reason!"

Master Atoshi just looked at her calmly. "Tarina, it's not so bad that you let go of your _parents_. I'm just disappointed that you let go of _yourself_. I mean, think back. You were a beautiful, smart, and strong child. You still are, and I know that old Sayomi is in there somewhere, but you've definately changed. You could have been an official shinobi by now. Now, you're a criminal. That's the life you chose. I mean, I'm not taking sides but-"

Tarina snorted angrily. "So, what, now you're going to try and make me into a good-doer since you've been watching me fall apart with some crystal ball all my life?!" She asked sarcastically. This Atoshi guy seemed to know so much about her, so...

Atoshi raised an eyebrow. "'Good-doer'?"

"Good-doer."

"What is that? An insulting term for the shinobi who stay within the boundaries of their village?" Atoshi asked curiously.

"Yes. I made it up," Tarina said matter-of-factly, then glared at him. "So, what's your answer? Is that why I'm here or what? To get changed from a rogue ninja to a good guy?"

Atoshi snorted. "I hate to break it to you, but you're _not _a rogue ninja."

Tarina looked pitifully tearful, stamping her foot on the ground. "Yes, I am!" She cried, even though she knew she wasn't.

"You're not even a ninja. How can you be a rogue ninja if you're not even a shinobi?" Atoshi asked her.

"I might as well be a ninja. I got perfect scores on almost every test I took _and _I can surpass my old senseis! Really!" Tarina shouted in an insisting tone, and yet she knew this was hopeless. She was nobody. Just a common thug who stole stuff and beat up on smaller kids for fun.

"You're definately not a ninja. Not even close," Atoshi shook his head. "You've wasted and probably even dropped half of your basic skills by running off and away from school and your poor parents, doing detestable things like stealing and destroying other people's lives."

Tarina was painfully silent.

"...And that's exactly why I'm offering for you to stay here with me," Master Atoshi said in a quiet, understanding tone. "I know who you are, Tarina. And I want to help you get through what you need to get through. I could become your teacher."

Tarina just looked at him. "B-but will I...?"

"Oh, come on now. You don't have to be a good-doer to earn my teachings," Atoshi said. "I'll guaruntee you that. You can be the best rogue ninja in the world, free with no boundaries or limits, and I wouldn't care one bit. That is because I believe all shinobi should have a chance to live their lives. That includes you."

Tarina didn't know what to say at first, but then knew it was time. This person, this angelic person, was trying to offer her a life. There was no way she could take this lightly. She sighed, with something totally different in her eyes, got on the floor, and bowed to Atoshi.

Atoshi raised his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting this at all.

Tarina spoke in an entirely new yet apologetic tone of respect, her head low. "I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, and I promise never to speak to you with cockiness and ignorance ever again. I would really appreciate it if you take me in as your pupil and teach me to become the real shinobi I've always wanted to be. I've learned that being tough also includes being brave enough to have respect for my elders. I'll do whatever you say without question. I don't deserve the right to be under your wing, but...you have every right to become my master."

"Hmm..." Atoshi grunted in sort of a neutral manner, scratching his chin thoughtfully. This was actually easier than he had thought. He had never wanted Tarina to be all submissive, but it was better than being the cocky, hardheaded brat that she was being five minutes ago.

Atoshi knew that Tarina had real respect. She always had respect, but after a while, she had decided not to use it since it was doing her no good. She never meant to hurt anybody. She was just...troubled, like half of the other kids at this day and age. She just wanted to be accepted and treated as normal, so that was why she had moved towards the rogue life.

A small smile curled on Atoshi's lips. "Tarina...from this day forward, I accept you as my new student. You're allowed to live here now as an equal member of this household, but with at least 20 hours of training per day."

Tarina quickly sat up, her eyes boggling. She was thrilled that Atoshi had decided to take her in, but what he had said about training had completley caught her off guard. "T-twenty hours..." she gulped, eyes widened. She was so weak and hungry...she didn't even know if she could make it two hours. She certainly did not want to fail.

Master Atoshi stood firm. "Yes, twenty hours. But, this will only go on for a few days so you can regain your strength."

"I..." Tarina hesitated, but then caught herself and nodded vigorously. She had vowed to do whatever he said, and she would not let him down even though he was probably willing to give her a break. "I-...yes, Master Atoshi. Twenty hours sounds good." she said stiffly.

"Alright, then."

Tarina smiled weakly, trembling in joy. She was tempted to hug the old man anhd start to cry, but knew she had to be strong and soldier-like. It was the only way. "Once again...I-I appreciate what you're doing for me. I promise I'll complete the training. I promise to never curse at you or ignore your rules. I promise to only speak when spoken to and-"

"Now, now, don't overdo it," Master Atoshi looked a little worried. "Only speak when spoken to? That won't be any fun at all! I need the company of a young soul to warm my heart. Just because you're a student doesn't mean you have to act perfectly like a soldier."

Tarina just looked at him. It almost sounded like...like she would finally be a part of a whole again. A family and a teacher. Finally. She felt free and alive again. She was determined. She had to prove herself, but this time, as a trustworthy, free (or, commonly known as "rogue") ninja.

"C'mon, now," Master Atoshi opened his arms slightly, knowing the confused hesitation Tarina was feeling. "You don't have to be afraid. You can hug me if you want."

Tarina sniffled and just stood there for a moment, then bursting into a huge series of sobs and throwing herself in Master Atoshi's arms. _"Th-thank you! Thank you so much...I...thank you..."_

At that moment, all of Tarina's worries slipped away for a while. She was finally happy, finally experiencing what she thought was true bliss.

The sad thing was, she was too young and stupid to realize that those troubles wouldn't go away just like that. There were many more to come, and some were just unfixable.

Of course Tarina knew that. Of course Master Atoshi knew that.

Tarina wasn't crying because she was happy. Tarina was crying because she knew she had somebody to help her out. Master Atoshi could save her now, but he couldn't protect her forever.

It was just going to get harder from here.

_**...Back Into the Present...**_

Tarina stared angrily at the chamber, using the back of her hand to wipe away the single tear that strolled down her cheek. Her fists clenched. She was angry. She wanted to kill somebody.

Tarina knew that Master Atoshi couldn't save her now. He couldn't help her. Sure, he was still in the Hidden Mist Village now, probably gazing at the newspaper with Coco on his shoulder, but that wouldn't stop what was happening now.

She didn't know how to deal with the situation. Hikaru and Masami and Hirokazu...it was a totally unexpected incident, something that she had been dreading for her entire life, something that she refused to believe would happen. Something that she had almost refused to fix.

And now, it was happening.

There was a strong sense of death in the air. Tarina could feel it on her fingertips, and it made her shiver. There was definately going to be a fight. Somewhere, somehow, sometime, any time. It was making her go crazy.

Tarina sighed. These wholesome, innocent little memories weren't going to help her at all. Reminiscing wasn't going to solve anything. She needed to deal with the problem herself. She was the one who needed to save herself and others this time.

She regretted not telling Hikaru about Hirokazu, but it was only for the best of his well-being. His satisfactory living style had lasted longer without the knowledge of him having a long-lost, "normal" twin brother.

And what made Tarina even more enfuriated at the moment was that Haku and Zabuza were there, probably looking for her. She could easily tell that the two other ghost beings she sensed in the building were them.

Tarina sighed. Those two were sweethearts, but they just never got off of her back. They sensed Tarina's troubled soul as well and followed her everywhere, since they noticed how she had not been herself lately, even before the whole Land of Exiles mission had even started. She loved Zabuza and Haku more than herself, but...

Tarina didn't know what it was, but the past was just catching up to her. All of those carefree, troublemaking years as a childish shinobi...it was fun, but never really fulfilling. There was always something missing, and she had finally begun to realize it.

Maybe it was Hirokazu that was missing, or maybe she just missed being with Hikaru or maybe even her own mother. Maybe it was just some weird type of guilt that was boring a hole through her heart. Atoshi had always been that temporary space where Tarina could fill the hole up with, but she didn't see him much anymore. She found herself not being able to wait for him to leave the earth and join him, which she personally found a sick idea. Tarina knew that Master Atoshi shouldn't die anytime soon. Her team still needed him as a guide. Especially Omari. She couldn't resort to selfish thoughts that she needed the old man's wisdom more than they did.

As Tarina was caught in the moment, thinking this over and scolding herself, there was a sudden pang of danger. Even worse than the one she had experienced when her father was captured. There was definately something wrong, and she feared that it was something bigger than she could handle.

As soon as the charm started to gush again, Tarina almost screamed out in aggravation. It was annoying, losing blood but not feeling any kind of real pain or emotion. It was just that same nervous quiver that she couldn't help when something was going wrong. She felt like tearing the charm off of her head, which was very possible, but painful and Master Atoshi had always warned her never to do so or else something bad would happen.

There was another sidden pang of danger, that made Tarina cringe. Something was definately about to happen. She couldn't stick around much longer. She needed more power, and she needed it now.

Tarina, mentally crossing her fingers, stepped even closer to the door, pleading the Sunrise Demon for forgiveness and power that rightfully belonged to her. "_Please...just open...just this once..." _she whispered breathlessly, almost crying because of how desperate she sounded.

_"And just why would I do something like that for a brat like you?!" _The Sunrise Demon cackled inside of Tarina's head.

"Because I put up with you and supported you for all of these years," Tarina said out loud. "Now I need to save my brother, and all I'm asking for is a bit more strength without you taking over my body."

_"Hikaru?? You want to use MY power to save Hikaru, that little pathetic twerp who agreed to help out the enemy? What for?" _The Sunrise Demon asked skeptically.

Tarina shrugged. "I don't know. But...I can feel it. I can sense the danger, and I know exactly how serious it is. You need to help me."

The Sunrise Demon then snorted in amusement. _"Listen, brat, you were the one who failed to cooperate with me when we were fighting the enemy. You killed me, and now you want to come back and use my powers for something you're not even sure of? Gimme a break."_

Tarina stood firm. "Look, this isn't the main problem here, but the Midnight Demon is starting to tap back into Hikaru's brain again, and just might be able to embed his spirit into his body. If this happens, then neither you nor I have a chance of staying in existence. He'll destroy everything and everybody."

The demon fell silent.

Tarina sighed. "Yes, I know. It's really serious, and embedding yourself into my body isn't going to help matters at all. I know for a fact that you're too tired to battle him again. You need to lend me your power. It's the only way to stop this mess." It was true. The Sunrise Demon was old and worn out from being in Tarina's body for over two decades. Hikaru had never used the Midnight Demon much, so he was still full of energy. The demon wouldn't stand a chance by herself.

_"...Alright, then. How much power do you want?" _The Sunrise Demon sighed hopelessly, finally giving in. There was just no other way.

Tarina smiled. "Just open up the chamber and I'll decide for myself."

To be honest, Tarina really didn't know exactly how much power she would need. She just wanted to go into the chamber and soak up as much of that glorious power as possible.

_"Very well. You're welcome to take as much power as you want, but..." _The Sunrise Demon's voice trailed off as the lock on the center of the chamber unhooked itself and disappeared into thin air.

Tarina blinked. "But what?"

_"Tarina, I swear, if you don't accomplish fending off the demon and fixing this so-called problem like you said you would, then consider yourself obliterated."_

Tarina nodded, making sure to show not the least bit of fear. The demon's eyes were focused on her now, and she had to prove to be stronger than ever. _"...Right." _she said solomnly as she braced herself for the huge burst of light and winds that would result from the empowerment. She took a deep breath. It was time to save her loved ones.

The chamber opened.

_**...Go To The Next Chapter, Which Will Hopefully Be Better Than This One!...**_

_**Yeah, I know. Short, to the point, but not what you were expecting/looking for/hoping for, but I really needed to post a mini-chapter telling you that I was still active! Trust me, the next chapter will be better!**_

_**Make sure to leave a review! I gotta get back to work on other chapters! Buh-bye:)**_


	8. The Ultimate Mission: 8: The Secret

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 8: The Secret...**_

_**Heh, luckily for you, I have no comments at the beginning of this pretty long chapter, as my commenting uselessly takes up a bunch of space on the page and makes it look ten times longer than before. You might wanna get a cup of coffee or juice or something...**_

_**  
Happy Reading; I hope you enjoy this chapter!! Tell me how I did later:)**_

"Yaaaahh! Get away from Nuboruuu!" Katsumi stupidly charged towards the powered-up Tarina, staff at the ready. She knew she wasn't going to win the battle, but she was just too much of an angry person. She was mad that she was now a slave in the Land of Exiles and Tarina had become so much stronger. She was mad that she didn't listen to and ran away from Tarina. She was mad that she had once been so stupid enough to overestimate her own powers, like she was doing now. Tears of fury were burning her eyes, blurring her vision...

Tarina's arm shot out and she grabbed Katsumi by the shirt collar, roughly swinging her forward and kneeing her in the face. Katsumi didn't even have the time to impale Tarina. She was too sorry, too reckless, too scared. Kasumi instantly dropped her staff and cried out the second Tarina kneed her.

After the viscious blow to Katsumi's head, Tarina let go of her temporary enemy's collar and Katsumi fell. At first, Tarina had thought that she would simply fight as long as Katsumi could stand it (which probably wasn't very long), but Katsumi was trying to be tough and confident, which made Tarina very, very annoyed.

Might as well instigate.

"Ooh, what'cha gunna do now, Katsumi?" Tarina asked sarcastically, smirking slightly just to make Katsumi even more enfuriated. "Stupid little brat."

"I-I'll kill you...I really will!" Katsumi growled loudly to Tarina, even though she knew very well that she could never pull off such an impossible action, especially when considering that she was a demon-empowered ghost. Katsumi was greatly jealous of Tarina. There was no extra source of power for Katsumi. Katsumi was depserate breathless, and begging, for anything, anything special to just come to her...something that either empowered her or engolfed her...anything with feeling.

Tarina snickered, reaching over and roughly pinching Katsumi's cheek. "Aww, you're so cute, all angry and puffy-faced just because you know you can't win. I know how jealous and sorry you are, little girl. You don't really care about that dunce Nuboru. You're just angry and want revenge and my forgiveness."

Katsumi was practically steaming with anger. How dare Tarina touch and treat her like a small, worthless child! "Uughh...shut _up_!!" She screamed out in fury, throwing a fairly strong, carefully aimed punch at Tarina's face.

Tarina easily yet swiftly put a hand up to block the punch, but Katsumi didn't give up. She pushed harder with her fist, trying to overpower Tarina and give her the punch in the face that she deserved. Tarina felt Katsumi's arm muscles pressuring and straining against her palm, and sneered.

"Stop laughing at me and quit playing around!! I want you to fight!" Katsumi yelled, suddenly ducking down and grabbing her spear with her other hand and swinging it wildly in Tarina's direction, aimed at her head again.

This time, Tarina didn't even use force or any extra power. She simply held up a palm towards the side of her forehead, and the speared staff cracked in half and fell to the floor upon the impact against her hand. It was obvious that Tarina's chakra levels were growing by the second, despite the strong distance away from the Sunrise Demon's cage.

"Seriously, I know that there are stronger Keepers out there than you," Tarina said in a halfhearted, droning voice. "C'mon, at least be able to land _one_ punch. I mean, try some jutsus or tricks, would ya? I'm not as strong as you imagine. ...Or, if you want me to use my real strength and finish this, I could do that if you like."

Katsumi, disreguarding everything that Tarina had said and her broken weapon, swung another wild fist in Tarina's direction. Tarina caught it yet again, then punched Katsumi in the face as hard as possible without putting on much facial stress or emotional feeling into it.

"Aaaaahh!" Katsumi screamed out in terror and pain as she went slamming into the nearly indestructable walls, causing her to dent the surface and slump to the floor. She was still awake, but deeply hurt and weakened.

Omari looked over as to where Katsumi had hit the wall and cringed. This was why she was happy to have Tarina as a good, strong ally. The first reason was because Omari was flattered and felt loved due to Tarina's devotion to Omari's overall protection and health. The second reason she was happy to have Tarina as an ally was, well, Katsumi looked like she was in a lot of pain right about now. Even though watching somebody get hurt wasn't fun, it would be even less fun if she was the one getting beaten.

Tarina then stepped over to where Katsumi was and knelt with a new moonstruck look in her eyes. "Katsumi, I'm not in the mood for you today. I have no time for this. Surrender to me now, or die." She couldn't let Katsumi go just like that. Tarina needed everybody Keeper's surrender here, otherwise they could still have the potential to go against her again.

Katsumi looked up, tears and blood and dirt smeared all over her pitiful-looking, pretty little face. "N-No! I wont!" She cried out in refusal in the bravest tone she could muster. She didn't want to be outdone by Tarina. She couldn't, didn't want to be beaten by anyone. It just seemed too heartbreaking and impossible.

Tarina glared down at the girl and delivered a sharp blow to Katsumi's head, so hard that it caused Katsumi brain to be shaken up dangerously. Tarina leaned down even more, holding her bloodied fist close to Katsumi's head. _"What was that?" _She whispered, scowling.

Katsumi moaned in agony and sniffed up more dripping blood from her nose, her mouth starting to form the next, final words of refusal...

"Stop!!" Omari couldn't help crying out to Katsumi, despite the horrible taste of burned, metallic blood-taste in her mouth from the power-sucking device. Even though this Katsumi girl was obviously an enemy, she didn't want to see Tarina brutally do away with such a young girl. "Y-you should listen to Tarina. Really. I don't think she's kidding."

Tarina briefly looked over at Omari to hear this, then turned back to Katsumi with pure, stone cold murder in her bright golden eyes. It made Katsumi's bones rattle with fright and made her want nothing more than peace. Tarina tightened her raised fist. "She's right, Katsumi...I'm not kidding. I'm not going to hold back for you this time. The next punch _will_ kill you. Speak now or never speak in this world again. What's your decision?"

"I..." Katsumi gulped, squeezing her eyes shut and letting the tears finally come out. "I give up!!! I'm sorry, Tarina!! Please spare me!! I'll do anything to live! I-I'm on your side now!" She forced herself out of Tarina's rough grasp and threw herself at her former sensei's feet.

Tarina just looked down at her in a formal, serious manner, not resisting. Not saying anything. She stood slowly, kicking Katsumi away from her. "Whatever."

"Please!!" Katsumi sobbed at Tarina's feet. "I'm sorry!! I would never really mean to hurt you!"

"Tch. It's not like you _could_ hurt me or anything, but I'll take it," Tarina mumbled, shrugging slightly. "Smart choice for such a normally ditzy little girl. You're just lucky I let you live, since I didn't show any mercy for the last one. Now, get up."

"Y-Yes..." Katsumi nodded obediently and slowly stood, too afraid to deny any kind of order that Tarina gave out now. Her confidence from before had completley diminished. Tarina was just too powerful and scary for her.

Tarina sighed dramatically and held out her arms and closed her eyes, probably to hide the remotely soft look in them. She knew Katsumi was sorry, and the true, warmhearted Tarina on the inside accepted that. She never really hated Katsumi...she was just a little angry and her demon had gone out of control. The poor kid had nobody else to turn to, anyway. No family or close friends. And of course, like the real sweetheart inside of her would, Tarina was ready to show sympathy for her old student. "...Come here."

Katsumi instantly started to cry all over again as the threw herself into Tarina's arms. "I'm sorry! I don't deserve to be in your presence at all!!" She wailed.

Tarina gently pushed the kid away from her after a few emotionless, silent moments of hugging Katsumi and just looked down at her without much of a facial expression, not caring that Katsumi had made her shirt all wet.

Katsumi looked up nervously with teary eyes and gave Tarina a questioning, slightly surprised expression.

"Katsumi...I'm ordering you to stay here with Masami until she regains conciousness...then come back to Cage 1. Just leave Nuboru where he is; he won't wake up and figure everything out for quite a while. If he does, just ignore him or knock him out or something.. Do anything to protect yourself; I just want you to stay with Masami for the time being. Aaaand, I would suppose you know what happens if you don't do what I say." Tarina said in a weirdly quiet yet strict tone.

"I...yes, ma'am." Katsumi quivered.

"I want no more trouble from you," Tarina warned. "You're going to stay here and take care of my mother and bring her back to the cage. Understand?"

"Yes..." Katsumi replied quietly, still shaken, hurt, and frightened from the painful experience with Tarina she had just encountered. She backed away from the stony-looking Tarina and sat against the wall nearby Masami's unconscious body.

After this, Tarina instantly turned her attention away from Katsumi and looked over at the tied-up Omari, her eyes still stony and a sharp golden color. She slowly started to step towards the large machine that was holding Omari back.

Omari shivered, just looking at her demonic-eyed friend, wondering if this was really Tarina, wondering what would come next.

Tarina gently grabbed both of the cords attatched to Omari's aching cheeks. "Hold still..." She sounded tired. Not physically sleepy and out of breath, but just mentally tired in a way where she was fed up with or feeling pity for someone or something that made her weak.

Omari just gulped and didn't say or do anything, not daring to move an inch.

Tarina suddenly pulled the cords in opposite directions, making them pop off of Omari's cheeks like they were mini-plungers. This caused a horrible stinging, burning feeling to Omari's face, and she found herself very weak and much more tired than when on the machines. Omari cried out at the sudden feeling of pain and deprivation.

Tarina didn't react to Omari's yelp, and just continued to remove the equipemt cords as fast and carefully as possible (even though every cord pulled off was agonizing for Omari).

When the last strap was yanked off of Omari, Omari groaned loudly in exaust and pain and flopped to the floor, motionless. She couldn't move. It was too tiring, too painful. Her barbels were killing her, and she felt completley drained of energy. She didn't know what Tarina would do, with Omari just laying there before her like a pitiful lump of nothing.

Clearing her throat, Tarina kneeled down without saying anything, her hand glowing that weird, warm-looking, light blue color. Omari sighed in great relief and closed her eyes as Tarina placed a hand on her right cheek, and then her left. In seconds, Omari's golden, now dull-looking barbels finally had the strength to retreat back into her skin. For some reason, the healing of Omari's barbels had given her better physcial strength altogether, giving her the ability to move around.

"Uugh...my head hurts..." Omari mumbled to herself in a disgusted, pained voice as she slowly stood from the hard, bloody floor with no help from Tarina. She suddenly slipped on the huge puddle that had come from the two dead guards, but Tarina grabbed her and steadied her just in time.

With a small guesture, Tarina led the weirded-out, uncomfortably hurt younger girl out of the huge white room without a word. Omari turned and shut the large dor behind her.

"Um..." Omari finally faced Tarina with an uncertain look in her eyes. This was just too strange of a situation, with Tarina being so silent _and_ in an angry, demonic state of mind.

Tarina then laughed unexpectedly, and it wasn't the horrible, hysterical hyena-like checkle that she had used when facing Nuboru. No, this laugh was that familiar, mischievious little snicker that Omari loved to hear more than anything. "Heh...why do you look so scared and uncomfortable? Come here and give me a hug. I missed you."

"I..." A small, shaky smile formed on Omari's face. Tears of joy were filling her eyes. She hadn't seen her best friend in person for over a year. She was so grateful and happy that she was still alive. Tarina had given her yet another chance to live.

"Whaaat, are you _that_ happy to see me?" Tarina asked skeptically, still smirking slightly. It was a weak smile, but still a smile.

_"I-I just missed you so much!"_ Omari instantly started to cry, throwing her arms around the surprised Tarina and squeezing her as hard as her weak arms could. "Thank you _so_ much for coming! I'm just really, really happy that you came...I need your help...I'm just so troubled lately..."

"It's okay..." Tarina smiled softly as she affectionately hugged her best friend. "I'll help you. I'll help you get through all of it. I promise."

Omari slightly gasped at these words as she hugged Tarina, her teary eyes widening. It was those words that had brough back the very memory when she had first met Tarina, slightly reminding her of the friendly words that had comforted her and started the everlasting bond between the two female shinobi.

_**...Many Years Ago...**_

_"Uugh..." Little Omari's shut eyelids tightened, then finally started to open. She found herself on a comfortable bed, under a few sheets as soft as baby skin. She felt relaxed and comfortable where she was, but she didn't know what this place was._

_She didn't know anything. She didn't remember anything. Who was she? What was she, and where did she come from? What was she doing here, in a comfortable bed in a good-sized, normal looking bedroom? It was so weird...her cheeks twitched as she sensed another human being lingering nearby. There was another type of weight that was on the side of the mattress she was laying upon._

_"Hi!!" A strange girl suddenly popped up in Omari's presence, beaming and waving excitedly. She had been sitting on the edge of the bed the entire time._

_"Uuaahh!" Omari jumped, as frightened as ever, pulling the bed sheets further over her head._

_The shivering, confused Omari could hear the girl's amused laughter from under the covers. Omari gulped and shut her eyes tightly as the girl tore off her covers, still smiling cheerfully._

_Omari nervously looked up at the girl, somehow sensing that she wasn't planning on hurting her anytime soon. The girl was gorgeous, with a flawless face, long, sky-blue hair and a strange black bandanna wrapped around her forehead. But...something about her appearance was troubling. It was her eyes. Her silvery, alert-looking eyes that had an attractive yet unusual shape to them. They looked kind and welcoming, but mischevious. Omari could tell that this young teenager was a natural-born troublemaker. ...Whoever she was._

_"Heh...man, I thought you'd never wake up!" The rowdy-sounding girl said. "My name's Tarina, by the way. What's yours?"_

_Omari's name? How was she suppossed to know? She didn't remember anything!_

_"Um...I'm...uh..." Omari stammered, squinting to remember something that the beings from before had called her. She didn't know who they were or what they did, but she had to remember... "I-I'm...oh-...eh-...um...Omari."_

_Tarina shot her a funny look. "Omari?" She said this as if the name was absolutey crazy._

_"Uh..y-yeah?" Omari smiled weakly._

_Tarina looked skeptical and smiled awkwardly. It was pretty obvious Tarina knew that Omari had forgotten her own name and was just blurting out whatever came to mind. "Well, that's kind of an unusual name for a little girl from this land, but I guess that's cool. That's what we'll call you, then."_

_Omari was befuddled at this remark. The name Tarina sounded just as foreign as the name Omari (even though Tarina didn't look very foreign). Omari figured Tarina was just a nickname or something that she had made up herself._

_"W-Wait...T-Tarina..." Omari started carefully, making sure to address her correctly. "Where exactly am I?? I mean, what happened? I-"  
_

_"You're at the Kingpin Kunais' workbase," Tarina replied informatively. "We're a rogue ninja squad in the Hidden Mist, which is the village we belong to now. I'm the one who found you out in some weird village...it's quite a long story, but you're here now along with the rest of my team." She smiled._

_Omari blinked confusedly. Just as she was about to ask this new Tarina girl a question, a little dark-haired boy abruptly stepped into the room._

_Tarina sighed in annoyance, closing her eyes. "Hikaru, get outta here. Can't you see I'm busy?"_

_Completeley ignoring Tarina's orders, the tiny boy named Hikaru scrambled up onto the bed, crawled to the center, and stared Omari in the face with a suspicious look in his large, greyish eyes. He was dressed in some weird type of cloak with light armor covering most of his body, with a gray bandanna that had the same strange symbol as Tarina's wrapped around his head. "Who's this little goon?"_

_"This is Omari," Tarina replied smoothly. "And she's not a goon. She's our new friend, and hopefully our new teammate."_

_"Teammate?" Omari asked cluelessly, looking around the room aimlessly._

_"What the heck are those little golden things on your cheeks?" Hikaru asked Omari rudely._

_Omari just stared at him, her eyes widened, as startled as ever._

_Tarina looked aggravated, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "Hikaru, don't be such a jerk. They're just markings. And you can't even talk about her, considering what's stuck to your face." She said, which made Omari very, very confused. There was nothing that appeared to be on Hikaru's face._

_Hikaru scowled furtively at Tarina for a few beats, then glared back at Omari. "Hrrmph. You're just lucky that you're cute. Otherwise, I would have tried to destroy you."_

_Omari blushed, not knowing what in the world to say now. All of this was just way too strange for her. "Uuh..."_

_Before Hikaru could say any more, Tarina reached over and lightly flicked him in the center of the forehead, causing him to cry out and tumble off of the bed and onto the floor. He clutched his head and whimpered loudly like he had just been hit with a metal pellet, causing Omari to stare with wonder. This little kid Hikaru treated his covered-up forehead as if it were a vital spot. Was Tarina using that much physical force, or was Hikaru just a weakling? Or was it something else that had caused so much pain?_

_"Ooww! Tarin-uuuh! Why'd ya have to go 'en do that, stupid goon?! You're so mean!" Hikaru wailed._

_"And you're so annoying," Tarina responded flatly. She then waved at him dismissively, then towards the door. "Now, get out. You'll have time to meet Omari later. Right now, I just have to talk to her alone."_

_"I don't wanna go!!" Hikaru complained loudly, still clutching his forehead in a protective manner as if Tarina was going to flick him again. "Slicer's being mean to me again! He wont give me my toy airplane back all because it was getting in his way!"_

_"Then find something else to do," Tarina said, shrugging. "Why don't you just hatch those bird eggs of yours or something?"_

_"They're not bird eggs, goon!" Hikaru cried defensively, standing up from the floor and scowling over at Tarina, his little fists clenched. "They're shadow-slaves. They're from a summoning scroll, and I'm going to hatch them into big, furry monsters that will crush you! Just watch!"_

_"Good luck with that," Tarina snickered._

_Hikaru stamped his foot in rage, but had a pitiful, desperate look in his eyes. "You stop laughin' at me!"_

_"Okay, okay," Tarina laughed, pulling him forward and giving him a small, warm hug. "I'm sorry, but you're just so cute. It's too much fun teasing you. J-just find something else to do for now, okay? I'll make you some chocolate milk later."_

_Hikaru sighed, with a reluctant look on his face. This had seemed to win him over. "Alright..." He grumbled as he turned slowly and finally left the room, shutting the door behind him._

_Tarina turned back to Omari with an uneasy smile, her brow wrinked. "Don't mind my little friend Hikaru...he's just sort of...obnoxious. You'll get used to him, though."_

_Omari blinked. "I..."_

_"You'll be staying with us from now on," Tarina said casually. "I know it may seem a little weird at first, but trust me, it's the only way you'll get the protection you need."_

_Omari was about to open her mouth and ask what this protection was all about, but decided not to ask and just assumed it was part of the ''long story'' Tarina had mentioned a few minutes ago. She still wasn't sure about all of this._

_"C'mon, Omari...don't look so worried. I know it's confusing, but...just consider this the start of a whole new life. Just stick with me and you'll be okay. I'm going to take care of you and train you. I know we'll make good friends in no time." Tarina assured her._

_Omari, still a timid, passive little five-year-old, didn't quite understand what this whole thing meant for her since she was still so little and afraid and clueless about everything. She was completley brainwashed and still in shock from her awakening, but like almost any other five-year-old, she was about ready to adjust to whatever situation was coming to her._

_Almost._

_"I...I don't know what to say or think..." Omari said while sitting up, starting to weep. It was just too confusing and overhwelming... "I...don't even know anything about myself. I don't know why I'm here and why I feel so strange..."_

_"You'll get used to it. We could go to the plaza later on and get some new stuff for you. Then, we could talk."_

_"But-" Omari looked hesitant._

_Tarina gave Omari an encouraging look and smiled slightly. "Please stay with us. Let us help you. I know you'd like it here. Me, Hikaru, Zamu, and Slicer will take care of you. Really."_

_Omari sighed, finally giving in to something that she didn't really know about. These people did really seem kind, even though the little Hikaru boy came off a little too mean. "I...I guess so..."_

_Tarina looked mischeviously excited, making Omari feel slightly unnerved again. "Really?" She asked hopefully, in a giddy voice._

_Omari blinked. "Um...y-yeah...?"_

_"Yay! We can be friends now!!" Tarina cried happily, grabbing the shocked and still confused little girl and cuddling her inside of her warm, welcoming arms. _

_At that moment, Omari didn't know why, but she had never felt so safe before. Maybe it was because she didn't remember anything and couldn't recall what safe felt like, or maybe..._

_Maybe this could be a good opportunity to start a new life...whatever that old one was all about._

_**...Back Into The Present...**_

"Aww, c'mon, Omari..." Tarina whined slightly, sighing. "You're making me all teary-eyed with your...emotional hugging, and...dramatic expressions, and..." Her confused, weird-sounding voice trailed off.

Omari could tell Tarina was getting very uncomfortable. Omari couldn't count how many times she had been told that the majority of rogue ninja didn't like hugs. Especially adult rogue ninja. Tarina had been the first to jokingly point that out many years ago, the memory causing Omari to smile slightly and wipe away her tears.

"Sorry for being so clingy, Tarina...I just missed you, that's all..." Omari sniffled, backing up from Tarina a bit and trying to force a shaky smile.

"It's fine," Tarina tossed off smoothly. "I'm just kind of worried about you getting back to the cage safely. There's a lot of night guards who might be lurking around...not counting the ones I knocked out earlier."

"How are we going to get back?" Omari asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know the way?"

"Yeah, but...I don't want to go back." Tarina looked at Omari with something strange in her eyes.

"What?" Omari asked, confused. "Why? I mean, Nuboru's knocked out, the cage is likely to be quite easy to escape out of if it's hit in the right spot...why don't you want to go back? We can both go and find the others, then just run out of the temple altogether."

The truth was, Tarina simply wanted a last look at the Sunrise Demon's chamber before moving on, even though she had already went to it a few times and borrowed the demon's great power. Even though Masakaru had made many attempts to pull her away from the mental, invisible force drawing her in, she had been eternally captivated by it. She couldn't withstand the urge any longer. She had to go back at at least _look_ at the chamber, even though she had to be very careful not to go inside of it or talk to the demon's troubled, beaten spirit again at the risk of Tarina making her angry.

Tarina looked surprised. "Haven't you forgotten that you're on a mission?"

Omari looked appalled. "What?! B-But Tarina, I was captured! I-I was almost killed! My power was totally drained by that jerk, and I haven't the slightest clue of what happened to the others! I went crazy and Nuboru convinced me at first that my teammates were all dead-" She started to babble.

Tarina shrugged as she interrupted Omari's pointless ramblings. "So?"

"What do you mean, _so_?"

Tarina blinked. "Having a few scratches shouldn't slow you down from getting what you really came here for. You should get the others ready and continue your search with my help."

"But-"

Tarina shook her head before Omari could start complaining. "Ninininino. No buts. This is how it's going to come about: I'm teleporting you back to Cage 1, where all of our teammates are. It's _your_ job to prepare them for the continuation of the mission, while I stay out here and take care of some things. When I'm finished, I'll come back and bust you all out of the cage, and we'll find the Rainbow Boulder. Got it?"

Omari sighed and looked away, as reluctant as ever. "Okay, Tarina..."

Tarina smiled optimistically. "C'mon, it wont be hard. I know where the Rainbow Boulder is, anyway."

Omari looked up suddenly and glared at Tarina. "You do?! Then why can't you just grab it for us while you're out here 'taking care of some things'?!"

"I can't do that!" Tarina looked shocked that Omari would even suggest such a thing.

"Why the heck not?"

Tarina laughed out loud. "Because it's _your _mission. I'm not the one after that weak little pebble. I'm only here to help you guys out." She replied in an amused tone.

Omari groaned.

_**...Meanwhile, Back In Cage 1...**_

"Maaan, I'm sick'a waiting!" Kiroku grumbled out loud, although few were in earshot of his complaints. "What's the hold up here? Why are we even in this stinkin' cage in the first place? Why can't we just bust out of here and get on with our lives?"

Kamichi, who was sitting right next to him, smiled slyly. He spoke in a quiet tone so only he, Kiroku, and Kouki could hear. "Well, the other squads in this cage seem to be waiting for Tarina, who's got the access to the Rainbow Boulder. If she comes back soon and leads us there, we'll snatch up the Rainbow Boulder and run for our lives."

"Run? Run where? We don't even know the way out of here!" Kiroku hissed at Kamichi, even though he was very impressed with Kamichi's catching on to things.

Kamichi shrugged. "Ehh, I'm sure we'll find a way. The only thing I know is, Tarina's perfectly capable of giving out where the Rainbow Boulder is. She might not let us have it at first because she's rooting for Omari's team. _That's _when the grabbing and running comes in."

Kouki looked worried. "Kamichi, I don't think that's a very good idea. You and I both know very well that Tarina is also very capable of catching us and punishing us if we try to run off with the Rainbow Boulder. Let's just face it, Kamichi; the prize isn't ours this time. The boulder will either go untouched, or Omari's team will have it."

Kamichi's fists clenched. "No. I'm not about to fail this stupid mission! Haku, Omari, and Zabuza may be exceptions, but I'll seriously kill _any_ of these losers if they get in my way, and that _does_ include Tarina."

"I thought Tarina was one of your best friends! You wouldn't dare to hurt her!" Kouki exclaimed, but making sure not to be too loud. "..._Even though you probably couldn't_..." She quickly muttered the last sentence, looking away meekly.

_"I don't care if Tarina was one of my best friends..."_ Kamichi grumbled. "I'm _not_ lettin' her get in my way."

Kouki sighed, too flustered with Kamichi's stubborn, grumpy attitude. It was making her very upset. "I-I'll be right back. I...have to use the restroom." She said quietly, then stood and briskly walked to the bathroom.

Kamichi glared at the floor, grumbling to himself angrily. "I'm _not_ afraid of Tarina."

Kiroku held his hands up. "Wait, I'm a little confused here. Are you talking about that one famous Tarina girl who used to be leader of the Kingpin Kunais?"

"Yes," Kamichi replied quickly.

Kiroku snorted as he pointlessly smoothed his hair and leaned back against the wall. "Oh yeah, I've heard about her. That chick is a monster. You couldn't stand a chance against her. Heh, not to mention, she's the cutest rogue ninja girl I've ever seen. That's for sure."

_"Not helping..."_ Kamichi growled under his breath.

Kiroku shrugged. "Whaaat, I can't say Tarina's cute? It's only a matter of opinion."

Kamichi shook his head. "No, Kiroku. I don't care about that. What I care about is everybody else who I've left behind benefiting without me! Don't you see?! They've gotten way stronger in the past."

"Dude, why are you always comparing yourself to the Kingpin Kunais?" Kiroku asked confusedly. "You should only compare yourself to your own expectations and goals. That's how you build strength and confidence. You're only degrating yourself and lowering self-esteem by thinking about who's stronger than you and in what ways."

Kamichi sighed and looked away. He didn't really feel like telling a story right now. "J-Just...nevermind. Forget that I said anything, okay?"

"...Well, okay. If that's what you want." Kiroku replied uncertainly, then decided not to say anything more for the time being.

There was a sudden random crash at the other side of the room near where Hirokazu was sitting. Everybody turned to look. There was a burst of a cool breeze that blew the light veil off of Hirokazu's face.

Hirokazu yelped in fright at the crash, then scrambled over to where Haku was sitting, hiding behind him. Hikaru angrily moved away as Hirokazu approached the area, not wanting to be near his hated _normal _twin.

Haku turned to see the younger boy trying to cower behind him and raised an eyebrow at suddenly noticing he and Hikaru's resemblance. "...Huh?"

Before Hirokazu could say anything in return to Haku, the loud crash and breeze finally stopped, and a puff of bright white smoke formed where the noise had taken place.

When the smoke cleared, everybody gasped to see Omari standing at the north end of the cage, coughing. "Wow...her teleportations are pretty rough..." Omari grunted as she wiped her eyes, not even noticing where she was yet.

"Omari!!" Everybody cried in unison, shocked that she was still alive due to her horrid, bloodied appearance.

Omari opened her eyes all of the way and gasped, looking around. "You guys!! You're all okay! And Haku! Zabuza! You guys are here, too?!" She gushed breathlessly, overwhelmingly relieved to see that all of her followers and friends were there and unharmed.

Zabuza merely blinked, while Haku smiled warmly and waved, then got a sudden worried look on his face. "Wh-...where's Tarina?"

Omari looked confused. "She's...she said she was, uh, 'taking care of some things'. I think she'll be back soon, but...beats me."

Haku sighed. Tarina could never make anything simple.

Omari's eyes suddenly set on Hirokazu. Hikaru was sitting in a dark corner by himself, so his twin was the first Omari had noticed. "Hikaru! Oooh, I thought I'd never see you again!" She cried as she ran for him.

"Uhm, Omari...I don't think..." Haku started to mumble. He looked uncertain as everybody else just stared like clueless idiots. Haku wasn't sure exactly who Hirokazu was, but was almost certain that it wasn't Hikaru.

Omari grabbed the shocked and confused Hirokazu and hugged him. "I'm _so _relieved!!"

Hirokazu started to stammer. "Uum, I, uh..." He had absolutely no idea who Omari was and why she was hugging him, but...it was kind of creepy.

"I missed you so much! I thought I'd never be so happy to see you!" Omari said as she kissed the wrong person right on the mouth. "Mwwa!"

Hirokazu blushed madly and scratched his head, now as shocked as ever. "Um..."

Hikaru had turned just in time to see this, a very hurt look and betrayed on his face. He was totally silent, but his face definately reflected his feelings.

Kamichi laughed out loud.

Midori turned pale.

_It just HAD to be a kiss... _Haku thought as he twitched, not knowing what to say or how to say it. "Omari..."

Omari let go of Hirokazu and turned. "Yes, Haku?"

Haku blushed. "Uuh, I, ahh...don't...well, you sorta...that's not..."

Omari shot Haku a funny look. "What?"

Haku looked away as everybody else just stared, not wanting to tell Omari what she had just done by accident. He simply wasn't able to tell her.

Omari looked around at the appalled, staring faces. Something was not right here. Was there some sort of new manner code where you weren't suppossed to kiss your friend in front of others? She then looked at the guy she thought was Hikaru, realizing that this kid's hair was slightly different. His eyes were more upset-looking, and he had no charm on his forehead. A shudder ran through her spine. "What..."

Hirokazu looked at her nervously, still blushing. He looked frightened of what was going to happen next. "I, uh...ahem. Thanks for the kiss, but...I'm not Hikaru. My name is Hirokazu."

Omari stared. _ "What...?" _Her eyes were wide open with shock and horror.

"Omari! Hirokazu, get away from her!" Hikaru stood up and ran to where she and Hirokazu was, eyes full of tears and anger. Hirokazu had stolen his kiss! _His!_ It wasn't all his brother's fault, but still. It made him upset. He hated having a twin. He hated it, _hated_ it, still couldn't believe it...

"Aaah!" Hirokazu cried out as Hikaru jumped, grabbed his brother, rapidly spun around like a top while in midair, then hurling him right into the opposite wall. Hirokazu crashed against the wall helplessly, then flopped to the floor, sobbing with pain and hurt feelings.

Hikaru then turned away from where he had shot Hirokazu across the room and at Omari. He blushed and scratched his head. "Uh...I..."

"H-Hikaru?" Omari asked warily, still confused.

"...Yeah."

Omari desperately looked back and forth to where the sobbing, familiar-looking boy was, and back at the real Hikaru. "I...who was..." She squeaked out. She felt so weird. She was freaked. She had kissed an entirely different person who she didn't even know.

Hikaru sighed. "I-It was...my twin brother that you kissed. Not me."

_Twin brother?! What twin brother?! _Omari screamed inside of her head, aggravated that she had missed so much after being captured. Hikaru sounded as if this was old news. It was so confusing, and she wanted to ask so many questions, but...there was only one thing that she could say at that moment. _"...Ew."_

Hikaru, still managing to keep his cool and struggling away from the urge to explode in anger, lightly kissed Omari on the cheek as a greeting, then shook his head and looked away. "I-I'm sorry..."

Omari was puzzled. "For what?"

Hikaru shrugged. He really didn't know. He really didn't. But, for some reason, he had felt like he had done something wrong, and felt the need to apologize. It was a weird feeling he had gotten at times throughout his life, but this time, it was really painful. Maybe the whole ordeal with the hefty guard and the ''I'm not a monster'' thing had made him feel this way. But, whatever the cause was, seeing Omari had made Hikaru's spirits sag even more than they already had.

Before Omari could say anything more to Hikaru, there was a sudden rush of footsteps overhead. There was something going on at the floor above them. Everybody looked up and through the barred-up, square hole in the ceiling that was the trap leading to the cage.

"Masami, come back! You have to go down there! Tarina said so!" Katsumi's echoey, panicked voice was heard from above as everybody saw her quick feet rush by from above.

"No! I can't face him! I can't face _them_!" Masami's pitiful-sounding, sobbing voice could be heard from an even greater distance. Everybody figured that she was running away from Katsumi, all except for Omari, who had no idea what was going on.

"You don't know what you're doing!" Katsumi screamed, her voice now becoming more and more distant. "Your daughter will kill us if she finds out we're not doing as we were told, Masami! I was ordered to stay with you until you woke up and then take you back!"

"I don't care if she kills me! I just can't bear to see my son kill the other!" Masami cried.

Hirokazu quivered. "M-Mommy..." He whispered to himself, in awe of what she had just said.

Omari was in absolute shock.

Hikaru just stared at the ceiling, eyes widened, completley silent. That confirmed it. Masami was his mother. She would know. He now believed it, but had the sudden urge to strangle both Hirokazu and Masami. It was just so wrong and impossible...he couldn't take it. Tears of anger filled his eyes and he clenched his fists. It made him even angrier that his own mother was too much of a coward to even tell Hikaru who she really was.

"I'm going to kill her...!" Hikaru suddenly growled loudly, his eyes turning a bright red. He stood from his place, shivering and grumbling feircely to himself, with a strange bright orn of chakra surrounding him.

Haku looked worried, but tried to sound stern. "Hikaru, you're not going to kill anybody. Especially your own mother. You have to learn how to handle these things properly."

Hikaru whipped around to face the others with pure emotional anguish in his eyes. _"She's NOT my mother! She's merely the stupid, cowardly woman who didn't have a choice! Having me and Tarina was an accident, don't you get it?!? She didn't want demon kids, so she became SCARED! She was afraid to talk to us and help us! She's afraid of us altogether! A woman who's afraid to even look at her own two offspring is not a mother! Tarina and I don't have a mother!"_

Hirokazu just looked at the crying, shaking Hikaru with some sort of guilt and confusion in his eyes. "Then...what does that make me?" He asked softly.

"_You_...you're NOTHING!" Hikaru raged, pointing at his brother menacingly. "You're just a pathetic, weak crybaby who wastes his entire life on being a little kissup slave!"

Hirokazu suddenly tried to look brave as he stood as well. "Well, _this _little kissup slave isn't going to let you hurt our mom!"

"Neither am I," Kamichi suddenly growled as he stood alongside Hirokazu.

Omari turned to look at her former teammate. Her eyes welled up with tears, as she didn't even notice or recognize Kamichi at first. It had been too long. He looked so grown up now, with his voice more matured than a few months ago and his long hair in a different style.

"Kamichi..." Kouki desperately started to call out for her best friend, not wanting him to get involved and have more things to be stressed about. She then stopped, her voice trailing off, not even bothering to continue. Just She knew Kamichi wouldn't listen, anyway.

Hikaru sneered at the two two glaring enemies, while everybody else just stared worriedly. "Heh...you two goons think you're so tough? That you're going to stop me from murdering that wretched woman that's afraid to face me?"

"We sure are," Kamichi replied boldly, even though he highly doubted Hirokazu accomplishing anything in this state of human normalness. He couldn't help but wonder what this hopelessly weak boy could do with no fighting abilities and a speared staff that he probably didn't even know how to use correctly.

"Heh...we'll see about that..." Hikaru sneered evilly as he started to make a few hand signs for the Shadow Spheroid. He was going to burst out of the cage before Kamichi and Hirokazu could.

"H-Hikaru, don't do this!" Omari cried out. "Please! Killing off your family isn't going to help anybody! It wont even help you! Think about it!"

_It's too late, Omari... _Haku thought gravely, his fists clenched. All he had wanted was for Tarina to come back, but instead, they had to deal with an enfuriated demonic boy. ..._Nothing can stop him now. He's too upset and angry...it's just too much for him to hold in. He's going to escape and cause trouble for all of us no matter what he decides on doing, anyway, which might drive Tarina to spend more time outside of the cage and be more involved in the Hikaru situation...dang it. We got more than we bargained for with this retreiving-Tarina mission._

Hikaru shook his head at Omari as the deadly sphere started to bubble up and form inside of his clawed hand. "No! I'm _not_ going to give up my one and only chance to destroy the cowardly freak who gave birth to me and left me out in the streets!!"

Hirokazu looked upset. "B-Brother...you don't understand. That's not how it was. She didn't want to give you away. She loved you-"

"I don't care!!" Hikaru screamed in frustration, tears streaming down his face. He then zoomed upwards towards the ceiling, with the energy orb in hand. "Shadow Spheroid!!"

_Wow...I would do almost anything to have a power like that... _Hirokazu couldn't help thinking enviously to himself before Kamichi grabbed his arm and quickly pulled him to the other side of the room.

"C'mon, dude! We have to follow him if we're gonna save your mom!" Kamichi yelled as he high-jumped towards the ceiling with a good grip on Hirokazu's arm. He had jumped just as Hikaru's Shadow Spheroid smashed into the regenerating ceiling bars.

Just as Hirokazu was lifted up into the air by Kamichi, Cyclone suddenly rushed over and grabbed onto his ankle, hanging on tightly. He would have used his wings, but they were in too much of a weak condition to fly. He felt disgusted when holding on to Hirokazu's ankle, but it was the only way to catch up with his master. "Your Goonliness! I'm comin' with you!!" He called after Hikaru, who was on the next floor already.

As soon as the four of them landed onto the first floor from the basement, the trap bars and fixed stone tiles leading to Cage 1 quickly regenerated (and could not be opened again unless a large source of power was applied with force).

The now crazed Hikaru instantly charged on all-fours after the running Katsumi and his mother, his eyes full of red fury. _"Ma-saaa-miiiiii!"_

"Your Goonliness! Wait up! I wanna come, too!" Cyclone cried in a whiny little voice as he let go of Hirokazu, zoomed past he and Kamichi, and went after Hikaru as fast as possible.

"Hey! Get back here, Cyclone! You'll only cause more trouble! Stay outta this!!" Kamichi yelled as he went after Cyclone at full speed.

"K-Kamichi! Wait up! I-I'm not as fast as you are!" Hirokazu weakly called out as he started to puff ahead at a speed that was even slower than a normal human being should be able to run at. Nobody would have guessed he was so slow due to his physically fit appearance that mirrored Hikaru's.

"Nobody asked _you_ to come in the first place, dork! You should have just left it up to me!" Kamichi's distant voice yelled back as his legs pumped even harder than before.

This made Hirokazu push harder to make his weak legs go faster, but he only managed to stay with a twenty-two foot range of Kamichi. He was already losing it, already running out of breath.

The six-man chase continued for about five minutes straight, with Masami leading by at least ten feet, followed by Katsumi, who was being trailed by Hikaru, who was about seven feet behind now. After Hikaru, Cyclone was quickly yet clumsily traveling about six to five feet behind his master, but already slowing down, which decreased Kamichi's distance to about about three more feet away from Cyclone. And finally, poor Hirokazu was now twenty-five feet behind Kamichi, making him a full fifty feet behind who he was really out to protect.

"Masami! You need to slow down! Now, before this gets us into trouble!" Katsumi puffed, highly aware of the four other people stampeding behind her.

Masami quickly looked over her shoulder as she ran, saw all of the people who were chasing her, and yelped. "Noooo!! All of you need to stay back!"

"No! I'm going to kill you!!" Hikaru snarled loudly, slightly starting to gain on Katsumi and his mother.

"Mommy!! Mommy! Please slow down!" Hirokazu cried as loud as his voice could, hoping that Masami would recognize his squeaky, pitiful little voice.

"Hirokazu!" Masami gasped slightly at the sound of her third son's voice and instantly skidded to a stop as soon as she turned the next corner into a large stony training room. This caused Katsumi, Hikaru, Cyclone, and Kamichi to slam face-first into the corner wall before they could catch Masami's sudden movement to the side.

"Uurgh!" Hikaru grunted in aggravation, pushing off of the wall and wiping his bloodied nose with his ripped sleeve. He then sniffled lightly before whipping around to face Masami with murder in his eyes. "You!!"

"Aaah!" Masami yelped, taking an immediate step back. 

"No! Stay back, Hikaru!" Kamichi and Katsumi yelled in unison, stepping in front of Masami at the exact same time.

"Oow! I bonked my nose, and nobody even cares!" Cyclone sobbed childishly, rubbing his little pink nose. He was still near the wall the four of them had run into, and was too hurt to notice or join in on what was going on at the moment.

Hikaru ignored Cyclone along with everybody else and glared at Katsumi and Kamichi. "How many times do I have to tell you goons that this is none of your business?! Now get outta my way, or else! I have something to take care of here!"

"You're not taking care of anything!" Katsumi said. "It was your sister's strict orders to bring Masami back to the cage with you and Hirokazu!"

"Yeah. And besides, you've got no right to blame your mother on something where she didn't have a choice! You're just incredibly angry and depressed, and you don't know how to handle it. There are better ways to solve these kinds of things, Hikaru!" Kamichi said angrily, glaring in the older boy's direction.

At this point, Hirokazu had finally caught up to where the others were, panting like a dog. It had taken all of his strength to get where he was in an already unsatisfactory amount of time. "Mommy!"

"Sweetie!" Masami cried worriedly, gently pushing aside the guarding Kamichi and Katsumi and looking at her child. "Where did you come from? Aren't you suppossed to be guarding the intruders?"

_"I...I just couldn't let you get hurt..."_ Hirokazu whispered from behind the snarling Hikaru, then looking down guiltily. He felt stupid the second he had said it. It was true, but what possibly could he have done to stop Hikaru from destroying Masami? He was pathetic. Even Cyclone, the bloody-nosed, furry little tagalong would have had a better chance of stopping a demon-possessed boy from harming his mother.

Masami fell silent, sadly staring at Hirokazu for a moment before Hikaru suddenly lashed out at her, right claw raised. Masami gasped in fright and horror Kamichi and Katsumi quickly stepped in front of her, and Kamichi had ended up taking the viscious, blow to his upper chest. The powerfulness of the slash was equivalent to a lion's claw-swipe.

"Aaaggh!" Kamichi fell back against Masami against the impact and instant pain, blood spurting from his chest.

"Wooah!" Katsumi screamed and quickly moved off to the side in a move of surrender, not wanting any damage done to her own body. Masami gasped and quickly caught Kamichi, then gently placing his moaning, half-conscious body across the wall. There was no time to heal him now.

Hirokazu quivered and took a step back as well. Cyclone just stared casually from the wall, not doing or saying anything, even though his rambled, frightened thoughts going through his mind was giving him a headache.

_Wow...His Goonliness is really serious about this. I'm not sure if even that jerkface Kamichi could stop him now after a hit like that! _Cyclone thought with worry.

"That's what you get for being in my way, Kamichi!" Hikaru quietly grumbled down at the whimpering kid, then snapping his head back up to face Masami, his new prey. He slowly started to step forward. _"Now it's your turn..." _

Nobody else dared to get in Hikaru's way this time. The chakra in his arms and legs was pulsating, making him more muscular and free extraneous chakra swirling neatly around his body in a seemingly endless orbit.

"No! Please!" Masami cried out as Hikaru raised a huge claw over her head. She could have ran further into the training room and started another great chase, but it was no use. At this rate, Hikaru could easily catch her if she ran and would take her down in an instant.

"Noooo! Mommy!" Hirokazu screamed, helplessly reaching out for her at a distance. He was desperate to keep her from harm, but couldn't make a move to help. He just couldn't...he was too scared of getting hurt...he had nothing. No courage. No defense. No anything.

Smiling with a wicked, monsterous form of bloodthirsty glee, Hikaru swung his deadly, sharp claws right at his mother's face. Masami gasped. Katsumi screamed. Kamichi had woken up, and was just staring in horror. Hirokazu was bawling, not knowing what in the world he could do, dreading the moment when those horrible, deadly claws skinned his mother's beautiful, screaming face...

Suddenly, something powerful appeared right in between Masami and Hikaru, stopping the attack instantly. It was a person who had grabbed roughly Hikaru's wrist just in time before the vicious attack was delivered.

When the bright smoke cleared, everybody gasped.

"T-Tarina! Why-...what the heck are you doing here?! I thought you were away!" Hikaru shrieked, in shock as he wrenched his pulsating wrist away. "Why did you stop-..."

Tarina shrugged as she looked up and got out of her defending stance. "Because I felt like it."

"Liar," Hikaru glared at her as Masami took a few steps back. "You were just feeling sorry for Masami and didn't want our _poor little mother_ to get killed. I knew you were a true goody-goody. Either that, or you were just jealous that I got to her first."

"Well, of _course_ I was jealous," Tarina said in a truthful yet casual tone. "I want a peice of her, too." Then then angrily whipped around to face the shaking Katsumi. "And I _thought_ I told _you _to bring her back to the cage with the others as soon as I woke up!"

"I-I tried!" Katsumi cried pitifully, putting her hands in front of her as a weak line of defense. "I-I'm sorry! She ran from me as soon as I told her where I was taking her!"

Tarina put her hands on her hips and spoke in a mocking, sarcastic voice. "She ran from you, huh? Ever try _catching _her? Maybe using a little _force_ or _effort _once in a while?"

"But I-"

"You were just scared that you might hurt my mom if you brought her down with force," Tarina said flatly. "You were scared that I would get mad at you for harming her. And let me tell you this now: I could care less about Masami's condition, except for when I'm killing her."

Masami gulped.

Katsumi just stared at her with guilty tears, still quivering.

Tarina sighed and turned away from the tiny female Keeper, deciding that punishing Katsumi now was not worth the trouble. She'd get her back later.

Tarina then turned to an entirely unexpected and different person this time: Hirokazu.

"Uuh...uh..." Hirokazu just looked at her worriedly, taking a tiny step back.

Tarina then smirked and nudged Hikaru so he would turn to face him as well. "Baby brother Hirokazu...I heard you screaming for your mommy in the hallway while on my way here. You sounded pretty scared."

"I...I did...?" Hirokazu asked in a confused, whispery little voice.

Tarina suddenly reached backwards and pulled Masami into a firm hold by the neck, taking out a kunai and holding it to her throat. Masami stayed perfectly still and calm, but the look in her eyes was absolutely terrified. Tarina sensed this frightened energy with pleasure and laughed lightly in Hirokazu's direction. "Well, if you care so much, then you should be able to defend her."

Everybody fell completley silent. Cyclone, Katsumi, and Kamichi were now against the same wall outside of the huge stone battlefeild that opened up ahead. 

Hirokazu's eyes went wide. "Wh-What?"

Tarina shrugged. "You heard me. If you want her to live, then you're going to have to fight us for her freedom. Me and Hikaru."

Hikaru was very surprised that he had been included into the situation, but finally felt that he was as important as Tarina and was very happy with this. He was as pumped as ever since the chamber was less than one-hundred feet away, and he got to beat up on the one kid that he now hated the most besides Kamichi. He didn't understand why in the world Tarina would persuade Hirokazu to do such a cruel, impossible thing, but he liked it. 

Hirokazu gently shook his head, his frightened and shocked eyes unchanging. "T-Tarina...you know I can't fight. Just please...let Mom go. I know y-you don't intend to hurt her..."

Tarina shot Hirokazu an uncaring expression and threw Masami aside along with the readied kunai. "There. I let her go. But that doesn't mean she's off the hook. C'mon, Hirokazu. I want you to fight us and prove that you're worthy to be our sibling and her son."

"..." Hirokazu didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He had never been asked to fight anyone or anything before. He was quite a slow runner as well due to his constant joint pain, which actually gave him a disability. There was nothing he could do. He was weaker than the average human boy and had less confidence and bravery.

"Hirokazu, if you're too chicken to fight, then I'll just have to kill both you and Masami. If you lose miserably and fail to try, then me and Hikaru will just kill you both. ...The same goes for you trying to run away. But...if you fight and prove to be a true sibling of ours, then we just might let both of you go." Tarina said.

"I..." Hirokazu hadn't even agreed to the massive duel that was about to take place. He didn't know anything about being a ninja or any type of warrior! He didn't know the least bit about fighting like Masami and Katsumi and Takeo did. Should he run, like he had every other time he had gotten into a sticky situation?

...No. He valued his mother's life too much for this. She didn't deserve any of this sadness and mistreatment. And he wanted more than anything to prove himself worthy of being Tarina and Hikaru's sibling. He didn't want to show he was different or afraid of them. He wanted to be the same. He wanted to be loved and have a family that wasn't full of disconnections and secrets and hatredges. He wanted Tarina and Hikaru to love him and think that he mattered.

"T-Tarina...d-don't make me fight you. There has to be another way, I..." Hirokazu's voice started to trail off. "I don't want to fight you. That was never one of my intentions. I just..."

"What, you're just too _scared_ to fight your own sister? Because we're just bloodthirsty demons that want to destroy you?" Tarina asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hirokazu quickly shook his head, frighened deeply be her threatening tone. "N-no! I-I never said that!"

"Well, you're expressing it by that scared little look on your face. You're scared of us. You're afraid you're going to die." Tarina glowered at him.

"I...yeah, so?" Hirokazu asked. He just wasn't getting this. "What's your point?"

Tarina laughed. "Let's just say no _real_ sibling of ours would be afraid to face the others like this. They wouldn't be afraid to try. A real sibling of ours wouldn't be clinging to his mother 24/7."

"B-But I AM your sibling!" Hirokazu cried. "I'm your sibling who clings to his mom! I'm a sibling who IS afraid to try! And yes, I'm afraid of you guys! I mean, who wouldn't be?! But I'm still your sibling!"

"Are you afraid of yourself?" Tarina asked.

"Wha- huh?!" Hirokazu, like everybody else in the room, didn't get this at all. It had seemed to be just a random question that had nothing to do with the other things Tarina had just said. "I-I'm not afraid of myself!"

"Then why are you afraid of us? You're _us. _You just said you were." Tarina said.

"I AM your sibling!" Hirokazu screamed out in the confused frustration that was piling up in his mind, not knowing what else to say. Tears were welling up in his eyes at Tarina's scornful words, even though he didn't exactly know what she meant by all this.

Tarina smirked as she stood alongside the very confused Hikaru. "Then come here and prove it. Prove that you're a demon, just like us. Prove that you're just as monsterous. If you're really one of us, and share the same genes as us, then let's see you fight. Let's see if you have it in you."

Hikaru then turned to Tarina, skeptical and quiet-sounding. "T-Tarina...why are you stalling? This kid has no chance! He's normal. Let's just get on with the beating!"

"He doesn't know if he has a chance," Tarina said curtly without even looking at Hikaru as she slowly started to step towards him, backing him up into the huge stone battleroom. "He said he never tried. Let's see what he can do."

Hirokazu looked around wildly, not knowing what to say or do. "I-I...what do you want from me?!" He cried. Tarina was mentally frustrating him. She was using his own words against him. "I-I can't do anything! All I can tell you is that I'm your sibling! I-I look just like Hikaru, and Hikaru looks like you!"

Tarina shrugged. "So? I know that there's a bunch of people out there that sort of look like me and Hikaru and you who aren't related to us at all."

"I...please, Tarina...I-I'm not sure what you're getting at, but..." Hirokazu whispered, eyes widened. "I...I don't appreciate not being called your sibling. Why can't y-you just accept me...without a fight...?"

Tarina glowered at him. "That's because we're demons. And demons fight."

With that, Tarina suddenly zoomed forward as fast as anybody had seen her move, with her fist clenched. In seconds, Hirokazu cried out and flew backwards a few feet, landing on the ground with a heavily bleeding nose. She had punched him.

"Aaaaah! Sweetie! Noooo!" Masami screamed out in horror, helplessly reaching out for him.

"Aah...oww..." Hirokazu sniffled and moaned, slowly opened his squeezed-shut eyes, and took one look at the blood on the floor. He suddenly grew stiff and frightened and unable to move. He knew he was going to die. He quivered, knowing that Tarina's first punch certainly wasn't the last.

"C'mon, Hikaru...let's go play with the baby," Tarina snickered in a sickly-sweet, demonic voice that was enough to make everybody in the area shiver with discomfort. She, along with her partially-demon-infested brother, started to walk towards poor, helpless Hirokazu, who was on his butt in the middle of the battleroom, too scared to do anything.

As soon as Tarina reached her enemy/younger brother, she bent down and grabbed his shirt collar, slowly lifting him up into the air. "Hmm. Interesting. You're actually shrimpier than Hikaru," she commented casually.

Hirokazu squirmed helplessly, beads of sweat and tears moistening his now scrunched-up face, bracing himself for any kind of hit. "No...please, n-no! I-I don't deserve this! I never did anything to you!"

Tarina shrugged as she raised her fist again. "Probably not, but your presence and failure to try annoys the living crap out of me. Especially when you call yourself our brother. You're absolutely right. You don't deserve it. You don't deserve anything, in fact. And that includes mercy."

"Noooo! Don't hurt him!" Masami was shrieking tearfully.

Hirokazu just stared at her, eyes huge and unblinking. "I..."

The next sudden hit in the face sent Hirokazu hurtling into the next wall, banging his head against the stony vertical surface. The large _smack _against the wall had made the room echo. His body mass or the punch wasn't enough to create a dent in the wall, but it sure was enough to make Hirokazu instantly flop on his face and start sobbing.

Tarina cackled gleefully, the Sunrise Demon's mental presence almost fully overtaking her. There was nothing she could do about it. It was her new personality, a new mental formation she was taking on. But, she loved it. Maybe she had taken a little too much power from the demon. Seeing that pained and frightened look on her brother's face...but what Hikaru and the others didn't know was that the simple satisfaction of hurting their long-lost brother wasn't the only reason why she was doing this...

There was something else that nobody else would ever know or believe until they saw it. The real, sane sliver of Tarina that was left wasn't sure of it yet, but...she was pretty sure. That dangerous, familiar (yet somehow unfamiliar) precense was near...

Laughing hysterically, Tarina stepped over to where Hirokazu was sobbing. Hirokazu heard the gentle yet dangerously sly footsteps and looked up with his bloody, snotty nose and all.

Hirokazu gulped. "P-please...n-no more..." he was whispering desperately, putting his head back down on the floor miserably and kicking his feet and flailing his arms against the ground in sort of a weak, pitifully pleading tantrum.

"Heh...you poor, poor thing..." Tarina snickered as she leaned down, grabbed the back of his shirt collar, and lifted him into the air before her.

Hikaru just stood there with an aggravated look on his face. "Heeey, Tarina, don't I get a turn?! I had him first, you know!"

"I-I can't take any more of this!" Masami suddenly screamed loudly right before Tarina was about to deliver another cruel blow. She got up from her seat, and despite her woozy head and guilty heart, she rushed towards Tarina at a fast speed. "Let your brother go!"

Masami had whipped out a kunai at the last moment to cut Hirokazu's shirt in the spot where he was being held so Tarina would loose him and he could scramble away, but right before that, Tarina had simply held out a hand in her mother's direction without looking and Masami was sent back a full twenty feet without even being touched. Some invisible force of limited yet powerful, wave-originated chakra had obviously done the work for this.

Masami landed onto the hard ground, moaning. _"Ooww..."_

Hirokazu gasped, looked over at his mother, and started to scramble even harder, crying. "Mooommmyyy!"

Tarina, with one hand still gripping the dangling Hirokazu's shirt and one hand on her hip, looked over at her mother scornfully. "I would scramble away if I were you. This is going to get ugly. Real ugly."

Masami just stared at her, wide-eyed and confused. _"Tarina...why?"_ she asked in a horrified, whispering voice. This was a very general question. It was asking Tarina why she had done all of the things she had done, including running away. Everything.

Tarina just looked at her calmly, answering simply. "...You know why."

Masami blinked, eyes still huge, not saying a word.

"There's your answer. Now leave your little brat to his business," Tarina said, still holding Hirokazu up in a plainly disgusted manner. "He's going to fight us, and he's going to like it."

With that, Tarina hurled her little brother's body in the other direction across the battleroom at a high effort level, making him loudly crash headfirst into the wall and slump to the ground, motionless.

_"My turn!"_ The demonic, overexcited Hikaru cried out in a growly glee as he rushed over to Hirokazu to deliver his share of blows.

As soon as Hirokazu started to sob loudly (again), slowly lifting his head up from the hard stony ground, Tarina raised her eyebrows in surprise. The kid had more endurance than she had thought.

Hikaru pounced on top of his sprawled out brother and tried to shove his head back onto the ground, trying to make him feel the pain and taste the dirt.

Hirokazu, still sprawled painfully on his belly, shook his head wildly, trying to resist having his face rubbed into the unsmooth ground. He resisted, his head straining against Hikaru's palm that was trying to smack him down.

"Hold still or else I'll smash your head!" Hikaru growled threateningly, but laughing all the while as he slammed Hirokazu's already pounding head into the ground and rubbing it all over the stone bricks.

Hirokazu cried, recieving many painful pink and glowing scratches all over his face, not wanting to put up with the torture. He then squirmed as hard as possible as soon as the pain of having his face rubbed in stone got too extreme for him. He pushed against Hikaru's aching grip, trying his best to break his head free.

"I said, hold_ still!_" Hikaru grunted loudly, this time forcing Hirokazu's head down onto the ground and severely pressing it against the floor He pressed down harder, and poor Hirokazu thought his head was going to explode.

The pain and aggravation and the thought that he was going to die was so intense for Hirokazu...there just had to be something that he could do...

"What?!" Hikaru roared in shock and disbelief as the kid's head he was cramming into the floor suddenly exploded into a burst of water as well as the rest of Hirokazu's body.

Masami, who had scrambled back towards the others long ago, gasped. What was that? It had almost seemed like a Water Clone.

Hirokazu, gasping for breath and still sobbing, suddenly appeared on the other side of the room, away from Tarina and Hikaru and everybody else.

Hikaru stood, soaking wet, and whipped around to look at him in surprised anger. "Hey, goon, I thought you didn't know any jutsus!"

"He doesn't," Tarina sneered. "It was probably just a thing that he grabbed out of his pocket before you smashed his head open. He coined it, basically. Nothing special."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Coined?"

"Yeah," Tarina nodded, glaring over at Hirokazu. "It's when punky non-skilled workers like him escape sticky situations. This is the only known place they have the coins, though. They're just little hollow coin-like chips that people keep that you can squeeze to activate a certain jutsu inside."

Hikaru then glared at Hirokazu. "Huuh. What a cheap trick. Your stupid little coins aren't going to save your butt, you know."

_"Heh...was my last one anyway..." _Hirokazu snorted to himself in a sort of delusional matter, the headache seriously affecting him. He then found the strength to stand, deciding to accept this. He would let Tarina and Hikaru give him what he didn't-did not deserve (he was still kind of confused about that), and maybe they would kill him. Maybe he could just die and let all of his worries to slip away, including the once about protecting his mother.

"Ooh, so you're not giving up just yet, huh?" Tarina smiled evilly, putting her hands together in a sign that Hikaru instinctively copied. "That's what I like to see."

Hirokazu blinked, still shaking and hurt and as frightened as ever. He didn't want to appear defiant. Should he just lie down and get his punishment? Or, would that simply lead to more suffering for him and his loved ones, including his mom and Katsumi?

Before he could think more, his two siblings' next cry startled him and made him back up some more. "Water Clone Jutsu!"

Now, there was about five demonic-minded Tarinas and five even worse Hikarus lined up next to each other, chuckling gleefully and in fighting stances.

Hirokazu was horrified. In all of his years as a runner and a tattler, he had never seen a rogue ninja intruder pull something like this. He had never seen clones before. So, automatically, he started to sprint towards the other side of the room in a panic, towards his mother, like he always had done. "Aaaaah!"

"Noooo! What the heck are you doing?! Don't bring them over here, goon!" Cyclone screamed out, slapping his hands to his head. Tarina and Hikaru were in an only half-sane state at the moment, and drawing over ten of their powerful clones wouldn't be pleasant.

Hirokazu kept coming, crying out in fear of the clones, who had already started for him. "Noooo! Help me! Help me!"

"Coward!! Just give them what they want!! Get in there and fight!" Cyclone yelled while quickly standing up, sticking out his hand and using some type of invisible chakra force feild to bounce Hirokazu's weak body away from where the rest of the huddled, terrified audience was.

Hirokazu was forcibly thrown high up into the air in a backwards direction, back into the battleroom where his waiting siblings were. But before his back hit the ground, he suddenly stopped in midair and was turned upright by something that he was not in control of at all. He was floating mysteriously, and everybody stared in awe.

He whipped around in surprise to see that the main Tarina clone was controlling his body's whereabouts with simple hand movements, something far beyond the level of everybody that was in the area (except for Haku with the water control).

Hirokazu then started to kick helplessly, crying out in fear. "H-hey! Put m-me down! Please!" he begged desperately, not liking the situation at all. He saw that all of the Tarinas and Hikarus had formed a large circle around his floating body, and dreaded what was coming next.

Hirokazu was suddenly flung towards one of the Tarinas, and severely kicked in the stomach. He then was smoothly sent flying towards Hikaru, who delivered a strong punch in the side of the head. Hirokazu was soon being hit and thrown towards clone after clone. Tarina and Hikaru were taking turns hitting him while rising in the air and kicking/punching him higher and higher.

Hirokazu squeezed his eyes shut, hurt and hating to be smacked around constantly. Hikaru's blows weren't as bad, but Tarina's were the worse. His brain was jarred and everything was a blur as he was sent back and forth and back and forth...it was like a game of catch but the two players never caught the ball, never gave it a break.

Finally, when the two had floated up to the top of the ceiling while kicking around Hirokazu, Tarina grabbed him by the torso, zoomed down to the ground along with him at a very fast speed while spinning like a top, and slammed his head into the ground as hard as possible. This caused a head-sized crater in the ground. Tarina jumped away from him and landed smoothly onto the ground, smirking.

Hirokazu, eyes wide and not even tearing up, flopped to the ground with an unchanging, shocked look on his face. Blood streamed from every inch on the top of his head, and he was absolutely motionless. He looked dead, or at least paralyzed by the impact of the hit on his nervous system and brain.

_"Aaaaaahh! Nooooo! Hirokazuuuuu!" _Masami screamed in emotional agony, running towards Tarina in a fury instead of her dead-looking son.

"Stay back and calm the heck down! He's still alive!" Tarina said angrily.

"No! You hurt him! You're killing him! Get away from him!!" Masami was screeching as she whipped out yet another kunai, ready to stop her daughter with sheer force once again. She was enfuriated and frightened and devastated. There was no way Hirokazu could have survived that.

"Shut up and calm down! He's fine!" Tarina yelled, roughly shoving her mother away and then turning back to Hirokazu, who had already started twitching and breathing in a ragged, unsteady pace.

To everyone's surprise, Hirokazu slowly began to sit up, moaning and sniffling, tears and blood streaming down his cheeks.

Tarina hadn't expected him to be up for another five minutes, but it looked like he had proved way stronger than she had thought in the first place. She smiled. _"Good boy." _she said this as if he had just completed something hard that was required of him, something like a ninja exam.

Hikaru just stared. Hirokazu should have been dead by now. Why wasn't Tarina shocked or frightened? Their enemy could _actually_ be powerful and hard to strike down...somehow.

No. Hikaru snapped himself out of those thoughts. He couldn't let Hirokazu live, no matter what Tarina said about giving him a chance to fight. There was no room for Hirokazu in the family. There just wasn't. He had to suffer and die for still being alive and not giving up already. He had to die now.

_"That's it!! You're DEAD!" _Hikaru roared, zooming toward Hirokazu's whimpering, sitting-still form. His eyes then turned a strong, dangerous-looking midnight blue, something that had never happened before.

Just as Hikaru viciously leapt towards his brother, Hirokazu stood on his wobbly, weak feet and scrambled out of the way just in time before he was pounced upon. Hirokazu couldn't see straight. Blood was swirling around in his jarred brain and his entire body hurt more than anything...

_"Heeeeyy! Don't run away from me!"_ Hikaru screeched out in fury, whipping around and bolting after his twin once more.

This time, Hirokazu was pretty fed up, too. He tearfully cried out in anger, raising his fist high up into the air and slamming it down where Hikaru was charging at him. _"There!"_

Hikaru had dodged out of the way nearly a whole second before Hirokazu had thrown the angry, weak little punch, and then bulldozed him over with a headbutt that sent Hirokazu flying towards the center of the room.

"Alright, that's it. I'm tired of this little weakling's nonsense; it's depressing. Let's just finish this brat off." Tarina growled briskly before rushing towards the other side of the room and starting to make familiar hand signs that made Hikaru grin and giggle evilly. "C'mon, let's do this."

"Right!!" Hikaru laughed, copying her exact hand signs as soon as she had started making them.

Hirokazu weakly sat up from the ground, moaning. He then looked around at his siblings, who were both making hand signs in sync. Tarina was on the far right of him and Hikaru was on the left. He suddenly became nervous, something feeling enitrely wrong. "H-Hey...what're you guys doing?"

"We're doing what you're not," Tarina laughed at her little brother.

"And that's fighting you," Hikaru finished simply.

Hirokazu looked back and forth at the two of them, suddenly feeling a strong sense of warm energy and connection that was flowing throughout the room, making his entire body tense up and have a huge shudder go down his spine as the final attack from the two was released...

_"Secret Jutsu: Ultra Supernova Laserbeam!"_

In seconds, two brilliantly rainbow-colored streams of light chakra burst out of the two siblings at the exact same time, heading for the exact same target. The laserbeam looked as powerful as ever, and all of the people watching had to sheild their eyes from the amazing, unknown colors coming from the one simple jutsu.

It was mind-blowing for Hirokazu. Never had he seen such power combined, not even a fraction of it. First, he saw the power streams shooting towards him, and then, as soon as they got close enough...there was a burst of brilliant light that surrounded his body and...

The power had made his body shoot straight up from the ground and right into the eye of the horrible double-attack combined. Hirokazu was caught in the center stream of combined light, screaming monsterously, feeling his body becoming washed away and his own blood cells were recessing and turning his body inside out...the feeling was pure release, but it was horrible and unbearingly painful and shocking...all because of that one attack...

_Wow...wh-where did they learn that attack...? _Hirokazu couldn't help thinking enviously as he was starting to be killed, the physical sketch of his existence becoming visible, the outlines of his own skin fading and blood flying everywhere with huge, thumb-deep cuts screaming into his remaining bones and flesh...amazing emotions were ripping through him like a tidal wave of razor blades...

The gory sight was impossible to see because the stream of light; the only thing that the horrified and awed onlookers could see was a dark shadow in the midst of the combined ray, slowly being ripped to shreds like a simple peice of paper with blood splattering the entire room.

All of a sudden, in the midst of the long, gamma ray-like attack, the process of Hirokazu's complete annihilation paused for a split moment, and then started to reverse in response to his screaming and struggling for life. He felt his body beginning to form again yet under an incredible sense of heat. Not only was he somehow forming back to his normal shape and size, but...there was another existance burning inside of him, one that had been there all along but was never used like this...Hirokazu was internally evolving, immune to the attack now, not chakra being activated in his body, but-

_"...Hello, brat."_

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" Hirokazu's sudden volume change in the scream made the whole area vibrate, the powerful waves bursting right through the attack and destroying it at the sound of some demonic, familiar-yet-unfamiliar voice...

"Wwwwooaaah!" Tarina and Hikaru cried out and were thrown backwards in opposite directions as their sudden outgoing flow of chakra was broken and the Supernova Laserbeam was spontaneously cut in half and died down because of Hirokazu's sudden reaction.

The air was smokey and windy as the now fully-awake, furious-looking Hirokazu hovered to the ground in a comfortable position with his clothes tattered, hair wild, and his fists clenched. He was on his feet, growling, powerful swirls of air and dark-purple chakra circulating around his body in the middle of the room. His wounds were still there from the attack and streaked his arms and legs in the pattern of a tiger's coat of fur, but didn't seem to be as bad as before.

"Oof!" Tarina and Hikaru roughly bounced against opposite walls and then fell to the floor. They both quickly stood up, staring in shock and confusion at the totally new Hirokazu standing in the middle of the battleroom.

"Wow...wh-what is that...?" Cyclone asked aloud from the corner of the hallway while watching tensely. "It certainly doesn't look like another one of those coin tricks...wh-where did he get this kind of power, anywho? It seems even more powerful than the full-throttle energy of His Goonlines..."

_"I...I don't understand...m-my baby...th-that's not my baby!" _ Masami was sobbing in a shrieky tone, frightened and shocked by the murderous, purple-colored look in her newly empowered son. Katsumi was holding onto her in a caring yet frightened manner as she stared silently along with everyone else.

"I-I thought this kid said he had no power! He should have been dead! What the hell is going on?!" Kamichi cried, slapping his hands to his head.

This reaction, however, didn't seem to be very extreme and pretty casual compared to how everybody else acted, as any other person could react by exclaiming "What the hell is going on?!" for just about every scenario, whether it involved a mother walking in the house to her children tearing up the house, or if the television screen got all fuzzy in the middle of someone's favorite show.

But, Kamichi somehow wasn't surprised as everyone else was. There was just something hidden about Hirokazu at first sight, even when his veil had been removed. It was just...a certain power or something that seemed to be inside of him.

Hikaru was deeply shocked by this sudden change, just staring in horror. "Wha...what...? How can...? No-..."

_"Grrr..."_ Hirokazu was snarling uncontrollably, frothing at the mouth, his appearance taking on a muscular, angry shape that didn't quite seem to be himself. His head suddenly snapped up with a look on his face that for a split second that looked like agony, but was indeed pure rage. _"You'll pay for that!!" _He screamed out to his siblings in a monsterous roar.

Tarina just stood there, eyebrows raised, twiddling one of the bangs in front of her face. "Aww, really? That means we don't get to have any fun with you anymore?"

Hikaru just stammered cluelessly, looking over at his older sister in horror. How could she take this so lightly?! This was impossible! His powerless brother was suddenly filled with power and-

_"Grrr...don't underestimate my great powers!" _Hirokazu fumed loudly, his clawed fists clenching even harder and an even larger swirl of power forming, making the walls around him rumble even harder than they were before. This was obviously not him speaking. The hidden, long-cooped up demon had finally won over his cautious, timid little body that had no real skill.

"Heh..." Tarina merely grinned over at him, a golden aura of chakra starting to swirl around her as well.

Hikaru, not knowing what in the world was going on, nervously looked over at the two. Why did Tarina seem so comfortable and confident? What was happening? Why did Hirokazu suddenly turn from being a powerless punk into a new demonic superhuman? This new energy...it was similar to his own, but...seemed to have a different personality.

Hikaru's eyes then grew huge as he saw something very distinct and familiar suddenly form on his head in sort of a bubbling, sluggish manner. It was shaped like a symmetrical purple star, the exact same one that was planted on Masami's head along with the moon and sun charms.

A sliver of a sly grin formed on Tarina's face, and she chuckled lightly. "Heh...nice..."

So, they were related, after all. They were next to each other. They were bound, and only by the single formation of Hirokazu's new charm. Hikaru blinked, his mind numbed and his body unable to move. He was falling off into his own little world...

The Midnight Demon's presence was pounding inside of his chest, wanting to get out and kill the new enemy that had formed. He was going crazy, which was making Hikaru go mentally crazy as well.

_"Aaaaaaaahh! Go! Kill him! Now!" _The Midnight Demon's screeches and demands filled his brain, and Hikaru was too stunned and afraid to even realize that his own demon was taking him over second by second. But Hikaru could tell that the Midnight Demon was scared as well.

A sudden touch on the shoulder from Tarina broke the lost spell and Hikaru turned with something newly furious and determined in his eyes. Most of the pure shock was gone by now. But the hate and love was still strong.

Tarina and Hikaru had a duty. They had to put Hirokazu and the newly emerged Nova Demon in his place, as well as save him and the rest of the world from the live demon's presence. They now knew that they had to fight.

Hikaru then snickered to himself, another look at his twin brother's gushing charm making him unafraid and defiant. He was gaining strength by the minute, his future endurance...he could feel it building up.

_Heh...forget about fighting Tarina! This beats all of my past missions put together!!_

_**...Turn To The Next Chapter and Get Outta Here While You Can! I Have No Further Messages For You! Hurry Up And Get Outta Here Before I Change My Mind and Start Rambling Again!!...**_


	9. The Ultimate Mission: 9: Good Dreams

_**...The Second Impression: The Source Of All Good Dreams...**_

_**First off, I would like to say that this story has been getting very hard to keep up with. Yes, I find it very enjoyable and as a duty to keep my beloved readers occupied, but it is very hard to do that AND manage to stay ahead with schoolwork and such, so please bear with me when you see that a chapter comes out 6 days later than I said it would be. :)**_

_**Next off, I would like to give my two cousin readers a big thumbs down for the whole Tarina x Midori thing. It's really getting old and the things you say about it is kind of gross, and...it's illegal. MAYBE if Midori was older, but she's not. So please, I know you're probably not reading this, but just stop. I never meant for the story to be that way; it's only creepy cause it's illegal and if it were really happening, then I would have had Tarina arrested already for victimizing a child because I don't like those kind of people. I don't think anybody does. I don't mind yuri at all, but I don't like pedophilia. Also, since I'm around Midori's age...it's a little scary to think about (shifty eyes at Tarina). So there! No more sneaky over-the-shoulder previews for you!! xD**_

_**Today we have a very short chapter and lemme tell you why: The next chapter has way too much going on and the events will come hand in hand along with the flashbacks, therefore I had to push these bunch of events inside of one small chapter. Don't worry, the next chapter will be VERY lengthy and much more exciting. :D**_

_**Happy Reading, guys!!**_

"I am SO bored, man!" Kiroku called out grumpily to no one, head and back against the wall of the cage and his eyes closed. He slumped down to a lazy sitting position and sighed. "I hear all of the fighting action going on out there, and it's making me anxious! I should just break outta here right now!"

"You had better not," Omari glared at him from the other side of the room. "You're just going to get hurt. We don't need to lose more people that I'm afraid we're about to lose. I sense three sources of energy. Two dark, and one light-dark. It must be Tarina, Hikaru, and Hirokazu. No doubt. They must be fighting viciously..."

"Hirokazu? There's no way he could be involved! He's powerless!" Slicer exclaimed skeptically.

"Well, obviously, there was a way," Omari shrugged. "I know Hikaru and Tarina's energy compared to the third one. The third is very similar, yet somehow different and more alive. It HAS to be him."

"What if it was just Kamichi?" Midori asked. "He could be involved in the fight, too."

Omari shook her head, knowing this because of the healed sensors on her barbels. "Can't be. I know his special energy as well. It's not clear and strong like Tarina and Hikaru's."

Haku sighed, propping a fist up to his cheek as he sit down in a hunched-over, gloomy criss-cross position. "Ugh...I know this won't end up well..."

Zabuza groaned out in anger, his fists shaking. "Grr...! Why does the kid always have to run off like this?! She knows how much trouble she's capable of getting in- why would she do it?!" 

Omari cleared her throat and spoke in an ashamed tone. "Tarina knew we were in danger. She sensed it and our desperately worried energies flowing, so she came here to help us."

"Makes us feel kind of stupid, you know?" Slicer shrugged. "She's always helping us, and even after she's dead, we still need her help. How pathetic is that?"

Omari looked down. Sure, it made her feel a bit more shameful than before, how Tarina had to come and was now fending off some of the most powerful demons in the world for hers and their sake, but it made her feel loved. And Omari would rather feel stupid yet loved then being dead any day.

Esoecially if the love was coming from a person like Tarina. She was that type of person, no matter what age or gender you were, you fell in love with her personality. You wanted acceptance from her. It wasn't because of how cool and amazing she was, but her kindness and internal gorgeousness was magical. Everyone wanted to be loved by Tarina.

But, the thing was, Omari felt partially guilty for this, too, because she had always felt like a burden, another weight that Tarina always had to carry around along with the weight of Hikaru's well-being, the rest of her team's well-being, and the weight of her hard past that was always catching up to her. Omari felt like she was always using Tarina for something. Teaching, emotional and physical support, everything. Omari felt useless. Tarina had always said that Omari had helped her in the greatest way of all, but Omari never understood that concept.

Omari remembered all of the cute little scenarios between her and Tarina and smiled lightly, despite the fear and guilt and other compelling emotions that washed over her. When she was just a clueless little chicken, and Tarina was a rapidly developing adolescent. Those times were the best of all.

_**...Many Years Ago...**_

Omari clutched her teddy bear tighter, squinting her shut eyelids, trying not to look at the shadowy monsters ahead of her bed. She was shivering despite the fact that there was a warm quilt bundled around her little body. Her face was buried into the pillow and her nerves tingled as each crack of thunder outside of her protective window sounded.

It was just one of those nights.

Omari started to relax a little, but then jolted herself awake whenever a small preview of a nightmare started to come along or when another crack of thunder sounded or blinding lightning became visible into the night. Omari couldn't sleep. She was as afraid as anything and lonely.

The biggest crack of thunder that Omari had ever heard suddenly sounded and shook everything up for a split second, and she jumped up to a sitting position, immediately starting to sob as her hands were clasped into her lap and tears were running down her face. It was just so scary. It was the worst night of her life. She was tired and scared and upset.

Another crack of thunder was heard, not as big as the previous one, bit enough to scare Omari out of her bed and make her flee into the hallway, as frightened as a seven-year-old could be. Her sitting into the hallway made no difference or made the situation better, but she had to get away from the creepy dark shadows of her room. She was wide-eyed and alert. She was breathless and now freezing cold because her precious warmth of the blankets had been separated from her body. She was backed up against the hallway wall in a sitting position, refusing to go back into her room and refusing to wake up any of her teammates so they could soothe her. She was too timid and was afraid they'd yell at her or something, even though she should have known they would have done no such thing. And so, Omari just sat there in the hallway, quietly crying her eyes out.

Who could she ask to help her, anyway? And what could they possibly do to help her? This made Omari sob even harder. She felt so alone...

There was suddenly a creaking of the bed in the distance and footsteps. Omari gasped. Someone had woken up and heard her! She felt so stupid. She was nearly a ninja and she had been caught crying through a thunderstorm. How weak was that?

Omari sighed, sniffling and shivering intensely as she pulled her nightgown past her knees further. She didn't know who was coming, or what they would say to her. She looked at the dark shadowy ground, eyesight blurred with tears as she heard multiple cracks of thunder from a nearby window.

The footsteps were suddenly right next to her. Omari blinked and turned around to see Tarina already squatted down next to her with a sleepy yet curious look in her eyes. Omari was a bit taken aback by Tarina's sudden appearance, almost screaming out in fright because of the darkness and the unsuspection.

"T-Tarina..." Omari sniffled shamefully, still shivering. "I-I'm sorry if I woke you up..."

"Why-...you don't have to be sorry about that. Just tell me what's wrong." Tarina said sotfly, stroking her hair affectionately in a move to try and make her feel better.

"I...I-..." Omari shook her head and drew her knees to her chest, resting her head on them woefully. "It was n-nothing...I-I just have a tummy ache, that's all..."

"No, you don't," Tarina confirmed without much emotion. "It's something else. Tell me what's wrong. C'mon, I'm not going to laugh at you or anything. Was it the thunderstorm or did you have a nightmare?"

Omari looked away. "It was a little bit of both..." she whispered, shivering from the cold and energy wasted from crying so hard.

Tarina just looked at her for a moment, wondering what in the world she could do to help. Then, her face lit up. "Hey, I know! You can sleep in my room with me!" she said in a excited, hushed whisper so it would make Omari happy and hopeful. She used to have to do the exact same thing with Hikaru when he was a more timid child. She didn't particularly enjoy it because Hikaru had always clutched onto her on the mattress like it was the end of the world. Tarina really didn't like little kids in her bed, but she also didn't like it when little kids cried.

Omari looked up ar her, surprised, eyes still glistening with tears. "R-Really?"

Tarina smiled softly. "Sure you can, Omari. Come on." she said fondly, holding out her hand to Omari so she could stand up on her wobbly, weak legs and walk with Tarina.

When Tarina was finished neatly tucking Omari in and climbing into bed herself, sort of creating a defiant barrier of blanket space (she really didn't like to share such personal items). _I really hope this is for one night...but hey, it's for Omari. She's like my little sister now. I have to look out for her, no matter what the situation is... _Tarina told herself as a mini pep talk as she turned onto her pillow.

"Goodnight, Omari," Tarina yawned after sensing the scared, alert awakeness coming from the young child beside her. "You should really get some sleep. We have to train in the morning, and there aren't many hours left until then."

Omari clutched her warm covers even tighter than before, her face twisted with worry. "B-B-but T-Tarina...wh-what if I have a bad dream again...?"

Tarina was about to sigh dramatically, as if Hikaru were next to her, but her soft side took over for her beloved little teammate. She smiled. "Omari, if you start to have a bad dream, then just hang on to me or hold my hand if you want. If you do that, I promise that there'll be no more nightmares."

Omari felt deeply loved and touched, even though such a sensation was uncommon for a child of this age. She smiled slightly, her tearstained face pleasantly relaxing a little. She hugged Tarina and then held onto her hand with one hand and snuggled her teddy bear with the other. "...Okay."

They had said their last goodnights and as soon as Omari had started to drift off into a deep sleep, her head was filled with happiness and soothing colors and forms...something she had never seen before in a dream. It was like she was conscious, but resting at the same time. She felt so good and energized, all because she was hanging onto someone who really loved and cared about her. Or, maybe there was something magical about Tarina's overall energy, something that made you have good dreams. Maybe that was why Tarina was so sure that Omari would feel better if she held onto her.

But there was one problem, one that ruined the whole special sisterly moment between Tarina and Omari. Tarina didn't snore or talk or do anything like that during her sleep. No, what she did was far worse and the kind of thing that would make one who slept beside her wake up in complete and utter pain.

Tarina was a kicker and a roller.

Omari had never endured so much physical pain while trying to sleep in her life. One second, Tarina's elbow was in her side, and another second, the covers were literally torn from her body and she was left shivering. Each time Tarina unconsciously rolled over or kicked her, Omari flinched and was ready for a surprise attack from her master. And given the physical strength the young adult had, each unintentional blow Omari took was agonizingly irritating. No wonder Hikaru eventaully had kicked the habit of sleeping next to her for protection.

After about an hour of sleepless torture, Omari had finally sat up and tapped on the sleeping Tarina's shoulder, who was now laying still. "T-Tarina...umm..." she didn't like bothering Tarina at all, but she just couldn't take this. Maybe asking her to stop kicking her would help...

"Mmm..." Tarina groaned tiredly, her eyelids tightening. A disturbance. Apparently, she didn't know who was talking to her or what they were saying. Another thing was, at her current age, she didn't like to be poked or touched. It had always made her flinch.

"T-Tarina...please wake up, just for a second..." Omari's whispery, shaking voice was squeaking. She then tapped on Tarina's arm a few times, harder than the last.

Tarina flinched, involuntarily rolling over in aggravation and knocking both of them off of the bed and onto the carpeted yet hard floor with a soft _thump. _Omari squeezed herself out from under the now wide-awake Tarina, then sat up on the floor silently with a horrified yet blank look in her eyes.

Tarina just blinked.

And then, miraculously, as all good friends do when simple mishaps are made, they started to laugh.

_**...Back Into The Present...**_

Omari sighed. If only those times had lasted just a teeny bit longer, she would have been set. If she had been smart enough to appreciate those times and knew not to be such a brat when Tarina was only trying to comfort her after Haku had been killed.

The very thought of Haku caught Omari's attention. She looked over at him. Haku was sitting there was a cluelessly sad look in his big puppy eyes, just as always whenever something bad was happening and he couldn't do anything about it. The warm and blushy feeling didn't wash over Omari like it used to, and that was only because she was insecure over her romantic feelings about Hikaru. But she missed that warm blushy feeling. She missed the past. Everything.

Haku looked exactly the same as before. Not an inch of physical growth. Mental and emotional growth, definately, but Omari sort of envied her former boyfriend for his current state of existence. Not that she wanted to be dead, but...

Omari looked over at Zabuza. He tried to have a tough look on his face but anybody could tell that he was seriously stressed out and uncomfortable. He looked like he was trying way too hard to keep his cool and stay calm. He was pressuring himself. If Tarina were here, she probably would have said out loud that Zabuza looked as if he was in a state of constipation. Omari smirked at the very thought of her best friend saying something like that. She knew how Tarina's mind worked. She could just never keep it clean.

Another sudden surge of familiar, nearby energy washed over her and she could hear some crashing and rumbling sounds from the above areas. Omari's cheeks sparkled, the vibrant markings wanting to fight again at the mere sensing of Tarina, Hikaru, and Hirokazu's clashing energies. Omari wanted to get out of the cage and be involved more than anything to help her loved ones, but it was too strange of a situation. She suppossed it would be consider a "family issue", but it just seemed...well, weird.

Omari sighed again. She didn't care. She just wanted to go and help her friend. She just wanted everything to be okay again.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

_"Alright, weaklings, come here and face your doom!!" _The Nova Demon made Hirokazu scream out. Hirokazu's fists were clenched, his body engolfed in a dark-light energy.

Hikaru just stood there, with an angry look on his face, ready to fight back.

Tarina blinked, and then sneered. "You're really corny, you know that? C'mon now. Enough talk. Why can't you just come over here and kill us if you want to kill us so badly?"

_"Don't underestimate my powers, or you will pay."_

Tarina shrugged. "I never said I underestimated your powers. I already know that you're as weak as hell, and that's the truth. So, technically, it's not an underestimation."

_What is she doing?! The idiot!! _Kamichi screamed inside, just staring in unblinking fascination and horror, bracing himself for any large crash or attack that could wipe them all out. He was on his feet, ready to do whatever to save himself from any kind of dangerous situation. Masami was clinging to him, but he was too preoccupied to notice this.

A sudden wave of realization came over Kamichi and his mood tensed even more. _Aah, now I see what she's doing. Her idea of instiagting him is clever. She wants him to be as mad as possible and blow out all of his energy at her so he will tire quickly. Heh...I guess even the great Tarina can't handle this guy when he's all power. But still...it just seems so weird. Does she WANT to get killed here?_

"Aaaarrrggghh!" Hirokazu threw his head back and howled, his now overgrown bangs covering a lot of his face. He then charged as hard and as fast as he could towards Tarina, who was still standing casually nearby the northern wall of the room.

Tarina quickly dodged out of the way, jumped up into the air above him, and powered up a quick ball of energy and hurled it in his direction. Hirokazu countered it with the exact same attack a split second before Tarina's had hit, and both were sent flying backwards with tons of leftover smoke filling the room. Nobody could see except for Hirokazu, who was granted a special vision by the new demon.

Tarina coughed as she stood up quickly made a sign. "Smoke Clearer!"

Instantly, the distracting gray smoke from the two attacks had pushed itself to the sides of the room and eventually away completley so she could see. Tarina smiled. "...That's better."

Kamichi stared in absolute horror. The poisonous substance he had used to immobolize Hikaru in their mini-battle from before...Tarina could have just cleared it out with a simple guesture. Now, he felt really useless. There was no way Tarina could have lost to him no matter what if he had decided to pick a fight. No way.

Tarina sighed and put her hands on her hips, looking over at Hirokazu in a sarcastic manner. She didn't want to be all goofy and cocky when it came to a fight like this, but when he was mad, his energy was drained. "Heeey, buddy, can we hurry this up a little? I really gotta pee, so we don't have much time here."

Hikaru blinked.

Katsumi, who was just staring off into the room, did not know what was going on at all. Even she knew that her former master was being cockier than usual. _"What is Tarina trying to pull here? Why is she acting like this...?" _she asked herself in a hushed whisper.

Hirokazu let out another angry roar, then charged for Tarina but this time in a swift zigzagged pattern that was enough to make anybody confused. He then threw a wild punch at Tarina's stomach as soon as he had zoomed close enough, but Tarina had caught it and then flew upwards to get out of the way at the last second.

Tarina's newly possessed brother then went to her and threw a flurry of punches and kicks in her direction as fast as possible, and Tarina actually struggled this time to keep up with the kid. Hikaru just watched the show, staring as the two fought in midair.

Tarina grabbed Hirokazu's outstretched foot and then threw him into a wall. Hirokazu quickly recovered from this and headbutted her in the chest, but she had just flipped her whole body around, grabbed his arm, and hurled his entire body into the ground at a very, very fast rate.

Hirokazu slammed into the wall, eye pupils shrunken from the shocking impact on his body. Normally, he would have died, but it hardly did any real damage considering the sheild of pent-up energy from the enraged demon inside of him.

He dropped to the ground, started to spin in a horizantally shaped tornado, then charged for his sister again. Tarina was hit by this and fell to the floor while Hirokazu took the opportunity to pounce on her from midair. Tarina quickly jumped into a half-standing position and punched him in the stomach as he was about to bodyslam her.

Tarina then stood up all the way, breathless, as Hirokazu stumbled away and spit a glob of blood from his mouth. Tarina just stared. The kid was fast. She wasn't sure of his true speed ability yet, but she wasn't quite stretched out enough to take hers to the limit.

"Heeey, Tarina, over here!!" A shrieky voice came from the other side of the room. Tarina turned to see Hikaru waving over at her frantically. He looked deprived and left out. "Can't I do something for once? You can have a break. Let ME fight him! Pleaaase?!"

Tarina sneered. "Well, I'm not taking a break, but I guess you can help."

Hikaru's brow wrinkled in disappointment. He didn't want to be second-in-command. He wanted to be the one who would prevail for once. The star who actually shined. Geez, did Tarina have to be involved in _everything?_

_"Well, obviously, since us weaklings can't even take care of ourselves..."_ Hikaru grumbled to himself, answering his own silent question. He knew that he was just being a jealous brat again. Tarina was a hundred times stronger than him. Of _course _she would be the one to save the day.

Nevertheless, he had to take what he could get. He had to help out so he would at least be partially recognized for his work. Maybe Omari would like him more after this. Maybe she would notice him.

"C'mon, Hikaru!! If you wanna fight, you gotta do it now!!" Tarina growled as she charged forward towards Hirokazu as Hikaru snapped out of his trance and followed.

Tarina had seemed to disappear into thin air as soon as she was within a foot of Hirokazu, but Hikaru assumed this was planned. Hikaru brought back his stronger fist and threw it at his brother's face. Hirokazu jumped out of the way, and Tarina suddenly appeared underneath Hirokazu, grabbed his foot, and dragged him down to the ground.

Taking the opportunity in which Hirokazu was momentarily taken by surprise, Tarina and Hikaru were on him like two wild dogs. Hirokazu rolled over and away from the wildly hitting and thrashing Hikaru only to recieve a punch from Tarina, causing him to jump onto his feet and teleport to the other side of the room.

Tarina and Hikaru stood at the opposite side, glaring intensely over at Hirokazu. Hirokazu was just grinning. Then, the huge grin started to turn into chuckles.

"What's so funny??" Tarina asked threateningly.

"You," Hirokazu laughed.

"What about me?"

"It's just so hilarious how you're so confident now...and I'm just imagining the look of shock on your face when I defeat and kill you," Hirokazu smirked.

Tarina cocked her head in surprise. "What makes you so sure that _you're_ going to win?"

Hirokazu (or I should say, the Nova Demon) cackled out loud. "You can't even land one punch without the help of that annoying little pest that's always tagging alongside you."

Hikaru was hurt.

Tarina laughed back at Hirokazu. "Like you're any less annoying?"

Hikaru wasn't surpised that Tarina hadn't made a move in his own defense about being annoying. They all knew he was a pest when it came to following Tarina all of the time and such, but still. It sort of hurt him, what Hirokazu had said. He loved his sister more than anything, but it was his other sibling that annoyed him the most.

Enough to activate the demon inside of him even more than before. The constant sound of the twin rival demon snickering...his own personality and the Midnight Demon's was becoming more into one huge hole of evil darkness. He wanted to kill this kid more than anything...even if none of this was really his fault.

But this time, instead of immediately exploding in anger and charging forward in a flurry of demon rage, the troubles inside of him started to build up mentally. It made him feel heavy and teary-eyed. He was in shock and couldn't move due to the severity of the attack that was coming up. There was no way he could stop it...

Tarina sensed the danger nearby, knowing that Hikaru was going to blow any minute now. She had completley kept her cool as any professional would, yet she was screaming and pleading inside. Hikaru was going to become vulnerable. After Tarina had finally got her own demon semi-under control, how it was Hikaru that she had to worry about. She had been hoping that this would have happened later...

_All that because somebody said he was annoying? Geez... _she sighed, turning away from Hikaru, who was grunting and shaking and was on his knees, trying not to let anger (and not to mention, the demon) get the best of him.

Tarina was definately stressed. So much to take care of. Nuboru would soon wake up and take action along with his remaining Keepers, she had to reach the Rainbow Boulder before someone else snatched it up, she had to take care of Hirokazu and force the Nova Demon into at least a state of submission if not death, do the same with Hikaru, and take care of Omari and the others who were outside.

But at the moment, she had to take of Hirokazu. It was either take care of Hirokazu first, or tend to Hikaru and then end up cleaning the remains of every living creature inside the Avalanche Temple. No matter what happened to Hikaru, no matter how much the pent up energy inside was killing him. It hurt to just leave him without any consolement, but still. As much as she hated to do this, she had to let him suffer for now.

_**...Ahahah, I Know You're Disappointed in How Short That Was...But You'll Just Have to Wait Untill The Next Chapter Comes Around!!...**_

_**Heh, I know how it's been 38 long days without hearing from me, and you were expecting something more, but the next sequence of events is a very challenging peice for me. Especially with making the fighting scenes so complex and every move and detail involved...I'm definately working on it harder than anything else right now. Since spring break is here, I'm taking advantage of the no-homework situation and doing the best I can. I'm still a kid in school, you know?**_

_**Schedule/Delays: Finally, the school year is almost over! Well, in two months after the break, that is. On May 30-31st, I don't think I'll get anything done because I am going on a band Feild Trip for a competition...aaaand I can't work much on upcoming Saturdays because I have bowling tournaments and track meets. Around June 16th may be the last day of school with June 30th being my birthday, so I wont get to work much that day wither. I'm also working on becoming a Nerdfighter (yeah, I'm one of those nerdy people). Isn't that interesting??**_

_**Also, I think I've got the format for the rest of the second half of the series planned out. I'm not going to give you the titles and the descriptions for all of the segments yet, because it's waaaay to early and I don't want a whole bunch of people asking me questions about this and that. I might give too much away, but I'll give you guys a tiny preview.**_

_**The Second Impression: Recovery: This is the segment that's coming up I'd say in...ooh, about 6 more chapters? More or less. This one mainly features some of the Keepers and other not-so-popular characters fitting into the real world after the big mission is over. Also includes a huge surprise that has to do with a certain relationship in the series; you may find it very enjoyable. :)**_

_**Ooh, I sense some impatience coming from you. You want to find out what it is, then you just have to keep reading. I wont tease you for long. ;)**_

_**Contact Info: I'm sure you might have some questions, comments, or whatever for me. You can talk to me easily; I don't have dial-up anymore so I'm on all day. Umm, you can either Neomail me at (any Neopians out there anymore?) at neobird3, you can send me an email at Neobre (I'm on AOL), or you can just Instant Message me (AIM) at Baskye13. You don't have to be shy to ask me stuff about the series or just talk, because I KNOW that I'm way shier than all of you. Or, if you want to be basic, just send me a private message on this fantastic website here. That's all the information I'm going to give you; I don't want to get in trouble here. ;)**_

_**Well, that's it for now. I gotta go work on my next chapter before I lose my ideas! Byeee! :)**_


	10. The Ultimate Mission: 10: Big Mistake

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 10: The Biggest Mistake...**_

_**No time to waste here, folks! :) We have to get on with this chapter right away. Too long to spend time talking. I know you're all pretty impatient right about now, too, so, we will now end my ramblings immediately and get right to the story. We've got a three-way fight coming up here, so pay attention and MAKE SURE to tell me how I did afterward on that particular area!**_

_**Happy Reading!**_

Hikaru's anger was bubbling up quickly. So was his energy. And it wasn't the type of energy that was good for positive, clear attacks for fighting. It was just insane, pent-up power that wouldn't help anyone in the long run. In fact, it would hurt.

Tarina's brow wrinkled in spite of herself. She didn't want Hirokazu to know that she was concerned, but she couldn't help it. "Hikaru...y-you shouldn't push yourself too hard. Just try to relax, okay?" The LAST thing they needed was for him to undergo a full transformation into a demonic form and start killing everyone without much thought.

Hikaru was on the floor now, rolling around in a desperate attempt to keep his cool along with the held in frustration of his twin brother's existence. His emotional system just wasn't trained that way. The simple concept of Hirokazu was so impossible to his mind and the demon and it was just too much, and if you added that along with the pressure to fight...

Tarina flinched, trying not to think about him. She had to let him go, even though whether she paid attention to Hirokazu or Hikaru first didn't really make a difference in the consequences. She gulped. No matter what happened, death was in the air. Tarina didn't like to think about it, but she knew that someone here definately was going to die today.

Like her mind-reading skills, Tarina's future-predicting skills weren't up to par, but it was quickly calculated that it was most likely either she, Hirokazu, Hikaru, Kamichi, or Masami were going to die. But then again, with the sudden and unpredictable events happening recently, the future events and maybe even the flow of time itself could be messed with. Nevertheless, Tarina wouldn't be surprised if her remaining spirit would be obliterated by Hirokazu or someone else. If that happened, she would just roam as a timeless hovering invisible thing, lifeless and alone and not feeling any emotion at all. She wouldn't be able to communicate with anybody else or do anything, not even knowing of her own existence. It was a timeless state of nothing if she was terminated here. A death after death...Tarina shuddered. She didn't like to think about it much but it was very real.

Before she could finish up her thoughts, Hirokazu let out a wild scream and came rushing over to her at an unbelievable speed. Tarina's average speed was slightly better, of course, but only a handful of beings were as agile as her, including Haku.

Hirokazu was going so fast that Tarina couldn't even make out what kind of attack he was planning to use. Tarina was also in a partial daze, which was a big minus. There was not enough time to get out of the way.

Tarina was struck in the chest with a hard, powered-up fist and was thrown backward, even though it didn't hurt her much. Tarina cried out as she flew back and right into Hikaru, who was just starting to stand up and recover from his previous anxiety attack given by the Midnight Demon.

When Tarina tumbled into Hikaru, his brain system was knocked out of balance once again, and his level of aggravation soared. Tarina quickly rolled off of Hikaru, stood, and looked over at him fretfully. "...Sorry about that."

"Stupid...clumsy...uuuuugh!" Hikaru wasn't able to think straight. He was already emotionally hit in the head and Hirokazu's attack hadn't helped at all. Tarina knew that he was in a sensitive state and she cringed. Hikaru flopped to the floor on his face, limbs twitching in a non-humorous manner.

As Hirokazu sat back and watched coolly with a smirk on his face, a very worried Tarina tried to approach her beloved younger brother. "Hikaru...hey...get up. Hikaru?" She bent down and slightly shook him.

Hikaru suddenly sat up with a jolt as Tarina touched him, his eyes red and terrifying with fury. "Aaaagh! Get awaaayy!" he screeched savagely slammed a huge paw into her face, slashing her severely. Now his hands and feet were much larger than his normal demonic form's and covered with silver-striped black fur.

Tarina gasped as she fell backward and skidded away from Hikaru. When she sat up to glare at him with newfound fury. Four long cuts now diagonally crossed her face, bleeding. She knew that Hikaru was out of control, but she just couldn't handle the stress anymore. This was too aggravating! _"You little idiot..." _Her claws grew in size as well but a more advanced form. The markings that were originally formed on the Sunrise Demon's body then became hers. Her fists clenched. The reason to get mad, however, was pretty rational. Hikaru could have done better to control his actions. They were in the toughest of situations yet Hikaru never failed to be one of the main problems.

Hikaru 's head snapped up to glare at her, growling feircely like a threatened puppy. "What did you call me?"

Tarina sighed, starting to give in. "Look, I'm sorry, but we have to-"

Hirokazu then took this opportunity to appear right behind Tarina in a swift manner so nobody could see or hear him and shoot a huge fireball in Hikaru's direction from over Tarina's head. Tarina heard the attack and turned around swiftly, but Hirokazu appeared back into his original spot with a devious grin.

The purplish fireball smacked Hikaru in the head, and he cried out, shaking it vigorously. He then looked up at Tarina with a deadly glare. _"You hit me!!" _he stabbed a finger at her accusingly, not knowing Hirokazu had done this just to start more trouble and break them up as a team so Tarina would have more to deal with.

Tarina looked shocked as she turned back around furiously. "What?! No, I didn't! I'm on your side! Why would I hit you?!"

"Ooh, I don't know, maybe because you think you're tougher than me and just want me out of the way?!" Hikaru screamed, coming towards her threateningly.

Tarina didn't back away. She simply glared and shoved him backward, hard. "No, I don't! It was your stupid brother! I didn't hit you, and you need to get over yourself and stop this! You're letting the demon take over your body. You're always jumping to conclusions and have no self-control!"

Hikaru scowled as he recovered. "You're right...I don't have any self-control. Which is exactly why I'm going to do _this_!" He then swung a wild right claw in Tarina's direction.

Tarina caught the attack and threw him on the floor. "Get a grip, Hikaru; I don't plan on fighting you! We're suppossed to be in this together!"

Hikaru sneered evilly, and when Tarina saw his eyes, she knew it wasn't Hikaru anymore. _"Why? You promised...what, are you scared now?" _he leaped at her again, and this time tackling her.

Tarina rolled around and pinned him to the ground. She was crushing his chest with force, painfully. Hikaru tried not to squeak. Tarina glared. _"You think I'm scared to hurt you? Stop making assumptions. Go ahead and test me again and find out for real if I'm serious."_

Cyclone was staring in horror. _Ooh, no, not this!! They've turned against each other! At this rate, it'll turn into a three-way brawl!_

Hikaru was growling quietly and trying to squirm away, but the more he struggled, the more it hurt. His arms were unable to move, but he didn't need that. With a quick snap of his fingers, he used a Substitution Jutsu to appear on the other side of the room. It was a risky trick that he had learned recently, and he was lucky it had worked, but he knew it was only because the incredible amount of power he had made almost everything possible.

Tarina jumped away from the log that she was pinning down and faced him. The Nova Demon's incarnated form (what appeared to be Hirokazu) grinned wildly, looking at the two of them, knowing that there was going to be a fight.

In seconds, the insane forms of Tarina and Hikaru were on each other like rabid dogs, tearing at chests and limbs, for no apparent reason at all. They were moving and clawing much too fast for the small, horrified audience to see their moves. They could only hear screaming and see glowing forms of stray energy being thrown around as well as two rapidly-bouncing, glowing forms colliding violently with each other.

Everybody knew that the two didn't want to fight, but at this point, something had to give. They were both sobbing inside at the knowledge of betrayal at heart, but nothing was stopping them. It was too intense of a situation to get along. It was somehow the breakthrough to relief.

Tarina had powerfully struck Hikaru in the face, sending him flying into the back wall, which was already stained with blood. Hikaru flopped to the ground, groaning, sobbing tears of anger, but he wasn't done yet. He got up and glared at his older sister, the look in his eyes challenging her defiantly.

Tarina charged for him, determined to teach the brat a lesson and knock him back into his place as an equivalent sidekick. Hirokazu had had enough of not being involved. He suddenly rushed in between the two and threw a wild right in Tarina's direction.

Tarina caught it swiftly, trying to bring his confidence down with a deadly, demonic stare that could make even the toughest of Kage shiver. The Nova Demon returned the stare. Cyclone shivered as he saw his master Hikaru just watching from behind, watching his anger boil over and his strong body becoming more muscular and panther-like.

Hirokazu finally blinked and turned away with his eyes all squinty, a sign of uneasiness. Tarina chuckled. It hadn't exactly been a staring contest, but it showed who had more courage to actually look one another in the eye. And at this state of body and power, it was hard to stare into any of the three sibling's eyes.

Hirokazu wrenched away from Tarina since she had caught his wrist from before and jumped backward into his own position. All three of them stood in a widespread, deadly-looking triangle, ropes and bolts of chakra streaming all over the room, making Kamichi and the others' bodies tingle with static and pressure. The whole room looked as if it was filled with static from a television screen, only it was glowing in different colors and was very violent-looking.

Kamichi quivered. At this point, all of them looked truly scary.

Tarina was the worst, although she seemed completley underdeveloped with what physical features the demon had lended to her (even though hers was much more powerful).

The flashy moves and the cockiness was over. It was going to get hardcore. They were ready to take down whoever was in the way. This was it. The only problem was, there were now three sides instead of two. Hikaru had provoked Tarina to turn against him (although nobody could really blame her given the scenario). It wasn't going to be good at all.

_**...Back Inside of the Cage...**_

"I'm booooored..." Tomozaku singsonged in that rough little voice of his.

"I'm not," Haku said neutrally, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully as his hands were casually placed onto the ground as he sat in a crisscrossed position. He was obviously trying to feel the different energies flowing and find out what was happening through the vibrations in the building.

Omari just sat there, staring at the wall. She wished she was out there. She _had _to be out there, but she knew that Tarina would have none of it and just end up scolding her. Besides, it was her duty to stay in the cage and watch over the others. She was one of the only sane people left in the place. Even Haku seemed a little lulzy, but that was probably just him.

She looked over at Zabuza, who was sitting in a corner by himself with a very unfamiliar look in his eyes. Omari cocked her head. "Zabuza, you okay?" she asked casually so it wouldn't aggravate or embarass him. She was concerned.

Zabuza sighed. "I'm _fine._ I'm just tired of chasing after Tarina all the time. She's always running off, and now look what she's gotten us into..."

Haku frowned. "Well, she had to do what she had to do. Our friends...they would have all been dead if it wasn't for her. I know you're worried, but still-"

"I'm _not_ worried. She's just super-annoying."

Haku sighed, twiddling a stand of long black hair which he wore loose nowadays. He rolled his big puppy eyes not in a sarcastic manner but in a distressed way meaning that he was just tired of all of this. "Alright, Zabuza, whatever you say..."

Midori sighed from a few feet away from Omari. "I really hope Tarina doesn't get hurt. I mean...I finally got the chance to meet her. And even though she like, chomped on my shoulder, I still wish she was around. She was a good teacher..." Midori had to admit...she had learned a thing or two about courage and fighting ever since Tarina had come along.

Omari didn't know who to worry about the most except for Hirokazu, who she didn't care about in the least bit, although she wouldn't be exactly thrilled if anybody ended up dead, including Nuboru. Hikaru and Tarina were her main concerns. If either of them died along with Kamichi or Cyclone or anybody else around the cage that she cared about, she wouldn't know what she would do. Unless she died, too, of course.

Slicer was on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Aww, man...what if Tarina dies?"

Zamu looked over at him. "You mean obliterated. She's already dead."

Slicer drew a shaky breath. "What would we do? Nobody would even be able to see her anymore...her spirit wouldn't even exist..."

Haku shuddered, but forced a sweethearted smile. "Nooo...th-that won't happen. Tarina's too strong for something like that. W-we've all been through tougher times...we'll all be fine. This little situation is no different than all the rest."

Kiroku snorted. "You're calling this a normal situation!? Pff, I'd be surprised if she-"

"Can you guys just shut up, please?" Zabuza whipped around with a look of fury in his eyes, his voice almost quivering. He swallowed, trying to keep his cool. "Just shut up. It's obvious that nobody wants Tarina dead. End of story. Why keep talking about it?!"

Kiroku turned around with an interested look in his eyes. "Do you like her or something?"

Zabuza looked disgusted. "No! Never!"

Kiroku's brow wrinkled. "You sure about that?"

Zabuza nodded his head furiously. "Of course I'm sure! I don't like Tarina! She's annoying and immature, and she's too much to take care of." he grumbled, turning away from the group with an angry yet somewhat pouty look on his face.

"So what if she's immature? Who's to say that immaturity is something that makes her attractive to you?" Kiroku laughed. He was one of those people who pressed topics to make people mad- for fun. "You never said she was ugly."

"Grr...stupid kids...always getting on my nerves..." Zabuza growled ferociously, shook his head slightly and kept quiet. He knew he couldn't win.

There suddenly came a hush of silence that washed over the group. A shudder ran through all of their spines, causing them to be quiet. Something was happening. There was no noise that had caused the shudder...just a sensation of power.

The kids, Ryo, Tomozaku, Zinon, and Kanaye gasped slightly before fainting dead away onto the ground. The shock wave was obviously too much for their little bodies...whatever it was.

Slicer was the first one to shake out of it. He blinked, not knowing what to say or think. He looked around. "Dang...what was _that_?"

Haku looked dumbfounded like the rest of them. He frantically searched around the room with his eyes. "I don't know, but that was a very creepy feeling. Some source of energy that must've had an incredible difference than from what we're used to. Powerful, too. It was more of an out-of-this-world feeling..."

"Was it Tarina or Hikaru?" Omari asked curiously. "Or...is it that other kid, Hirokazu maybe?"

Haku shrugged. "I think...I think it might be all three of them put together...but they all seem angry." His eyes widened. "You don't think...?"

Omari laughed nervously, yet a look of horror was plastered to her face. "Nooooo, they can't be all fighting each other. Tarina and Hikaru are on a team, remember? So, basically, it's okay. It might be something else. M-Maybe all of the angry energy is from Hirokazu...maybe they defeated him already. Th-that's possible, right?"

Haku just shook his head. "No, it's not. I can tell when there's conflict, and a three-way battle is probably the case here..." he looked down at all four of the fainted little kids. "All we can do now is wait..."

_**...Meanwhile...  
**_

Tarina grabbed both of her screaming, squirming brothers and hurled them with force across the stony battlefeild. Hikaru helplessly slammed into the wall, hurt. Hirokazu got up with ease and ran back to attack his sister. Hikaru jumped back up in a matter of seconds, reappeared on the other side of the room, and tried to do a spinning, flying headbutt into Hirokazu's chest to get him out of the way. He succeeded.

Tarina had no clue what she was doing. She was fighting yet restraining them from each other. She hated both of them, yet she loved them. Tears were filling her eyes as the confusion and hurt feelings set in, as there was more punching, kicking, slamming...

Hikaru and Hirokazu tackling each other, trying to get to her first...

Hikaru being knocked down, Hirokazu grabbing Tarina while slamming and dragging her across the wall, scarring and bloodying her teared-up face even more...

Tarina fell to the ground, motionless. Anger and upsettedness and an uncontrollable feeling was slowly washing over her body. Hirokazu was just standing over her with a smirk on his face, although half surprised that she had let herself get beat down so easily.

Tarina blindly wiped the rocky wall material from her dusty, bloody face, each heartbeat making her gasp and shake. Her power was expanding, yet it didn't feel good at all like it had been before. The fun was over.

Kamichi and the others just stared in horror from a distance, sort of inching themselves away from the arched doorway from the hallway to what they thought might have been a safe position. She sensed an enraged Hikaru get up from the ground, his loud snarls powerfully echoing across the room. It pained her, yet it made her have an even stronger urge to fight.

There was a sudden twitch of Tarina's eye that made Hirokazu blink and tilt his head in amusement. Tarina was now grunting, her eyes suddenly seeming darker than before. Mutated whisker-like parts were growing on her cheeks and towards the sides of her eyes, her skin was becoming slightly fuzzier as her hair grew wild...it wasn't a full transformation, but dangerous enough.

"Ooh, well look who's finally caught up to us..." Hirokazu laughed, remarking on how developed he and his rival twin had already become during the fight. He didn't even care that Hikaru was back up on his feet and pretty much ready to fight again. He wanted to watch Tarina suffer, to become the monster that she really was but really didn't want to be.

_"Shut up..." _Tarina painfully squeaked out as her claws frantically ran over herself, trying to stop what was happening to her. There was no way. Usually, her true power came out unintentionally. But no. Her body was more hurt than she thought it was, and her being drained caused the Sunrise Demon to break out the desperation moves.

_Uurgh...what the hell are you doing?! _Tarina was screaming inside of her head. _Stop changing!! STOP CHANGING!! Dammit! _she was wildly cursing and crying to the permanent tormentor in her mind, going crazy by knowing that she didn't have any control over this.

Hikaru, who was standing in the backround trying to hold off his bloody nose (which was rapidly healing anyway due to the surrounding power that aided him) wasn't too gleeful. He knew what was coming. _No...she's going to go full-power on us...there's no way neither me or that jerk can beat her...b-but...I have to keep trying..._

Kamichi peaked out of the doorway to see what was happening. "Ooh...crap..." he inhaled between his teeth, turning to the others who were shivering in the corners of the hallway. "Uhh...we've got a problem..."

Cyclone, who was small and weak and had fainted when the rush of a three-way-colliding power had hit them, was finally starting to awaken. "Wha...? What's happening...His Goonliness...is he...is he okay?"

Katsumi sneered with doubt. "No, not for long...consider both of those kids dead."

_**...Dangit!!...**_

_**:( There seems to be a problem with the uploading, as I have much more of this part planned out although the Internet wont let me upload much although I can't . This is pretty much as far as I can go. My computer's been having loads of problems lately, and I'm going to get the second half of the chapter up soon, which is, of course, longer than this. I already have some of it ready, and I'm terribly sorry I haven't updated in a while.**_

_**With the mixture of extra curricular activities, final exams, projects, and other things that I must take care of aside from the fact that my computer is crap, I have to apologize. The next part will be out hopefully in a VERY short matter of time. I don't know what it is, but it suddenly crashed. (sigh)**_

_**On the up side, I've gotten rid of all the spammies that everyone else in my household that has been loaded on the computer, so hopefully it'll be working in no time at all. Yes, I've been working very hard, but my computer obviously feels lazy. Huuh. At least you know partially what's going to happen next.**_

_**Also!! On June 30th, it's my birthday, which is in a few days. Eeeeh, I MIGHT tell you how old I am now if I like you enough, because it's kind of a gigantic secret. ;) Hahaha.**_

_**Once again, I'm sorry. Gaaah, I wish this whole ordeal could've just gone by WAY faster!!**_


	11. The Ultimate Mission: 11: Tragedy

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 11 : Tragedy...**_

_**Good News: The problems that my computer has been dealing with are now fixed, so I can hopefully resume to my writing in peace. Oh, and I would love to share something with you. Well, I recently went to a Young Author's Meeting located in New York, and I got to share some of my work and hear other local writers share theirs. It was quite an interesting experience and an honor that they let me share one of my stories there (which I secretly had whipped up in a day, lol). I was a lil' nervous at first while reading on a podium (how weird), but now I feel great. I got to hear from such great people and other writers my age and even got a few compliments ;)**_

_**Ooh, and I also have this one little peice of information for you in case you are the type to nitpick at things. People wonder why the Avalanche Temple is named the way it is when an avalanche mainly has to do with falling SNOW and not just rocks. Well, it was named purposely that way because the location of the Avalanche Temple in the story was suppossed to be hidden, so it would mislead someone into thinking that the temple would be hidden somewhere in the Land of Snow or Land of Water. Smart, eh?**_

_**Umm, so yeah, I'm glad for your patience and I hope that you enjoy the next part of that last sadly unfinished chapter. I had said it was going to be long, so, yeah, this is pretty long xD. A lot of things happen in this chappie, though, so please do your best to pay attention. Thanks...**_

_**Happy Reading!**_

"Uurgh...uugh..." Tarina's fangs were growing even larger, her body forcing itself off of the ground in an aggravated manner. She was slowly and seemingly lifted to her feet in a magical way. She stood in a threatening position, hand clutching the right side of her face, where Hirokazu had thrown her against the wall. Small drops of blood slowly dripped to the floor as the ground around her became electrified. The whole room was shaking as she started to grow in size...

She made Hikaru's transformation and growing that had happened before look like child's play.

"What the heck is happening?!" Cyclone was screaming, and Kamichi quickly grabbed him and clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent any type of distraction or trouble.

Hirokazu was cackling, while Hikaru was dusting himself off and trying his best to boost his power level and get a little larger in size, thinking to himself, _No...I gotta beat her...this is my chance to prove that I'm strong, too! _Although these triumphant thoughts vibrated in his skull, his true self sort of felt the non-selfish need to save his sister. But those feelings weren't recognized by the Midnight Demon in general, and the demon was the one in control. So it didn't matter.

Hikaru was growling, fists clenched, trying to advance to a new form although he knew that he could only do it halfway if he tried his hardest, And he didn't want to waste all of that energy...his fangs grew and his claws were doubling in size. Perfect...

Tarina couldn't supress the power any longer. She had to let out her true form. A huge, terrifying scream suddenly bursted from her mouth, with the sound somewhat mixed with a roar from the Sunrise Demon. Her whole body and surrounding area had taken on a glowing, golden haze, which looked vicious compared to Hikaru's slightly glowing aura and Hirokazu's currently held-in one.

In everyone's minds, a sudden image of a golden lock appeared, suddenly unhinging itself from a huge door and slowly falling to the floor, disappearing as it hit the ground and a demon's triumphant cackle indicting freedom had sounded...

The roar had shook the area even harder, and some of the rock that had been used to build the wall started to crumble. An impossible feeling started to grow over the entire place, as an unbelievable distaster was sure to happen soon. Masami and Cyclone were sitting on the lit hallway floor, sobbing in fright from their places on the floor. Kamichi was just standing in the doorway, fists and teeth clenched, not knowing whether to take the group back or not. It was an emergency situation, no matter what minor conflicts had gone on in the cage. The three had to be left alone.

Katsumi was staying back, not as far back from the archway as Masami and Cyclone but not as close as Kamichi. She was just staring off into the distance, sort of shaky, but with a weirdly calm look in her eyes.

Kamichi looked over at her, sort of confused.

_"Might as well relax...it's over..." _Katsumi was whispering as the sounds of Tarina's final touches on the transformation was blaring from the other room.

The sweating, frantic Kamichi was horrified to hear this come from someone else. She was saying that they were going to die. Well, they probably were going to die, but he hated hearing someone say that. He gulped. "J-Just shut up, alright? ...That's it. We're going back to the underground cage. We'll be safe there, and then those three can fight by themselves-"

_"There's...no time...and nowhere to run..." _Katsumi said so quietly that Kamichi had to strain to hear it. her blank, unblinking stare in her pretty eyes was scaring Kamichi now, even more than the situation in the huge battleroom. _"Tarina's too strong...the simple presence of her power mixed with Hirokazu's and Hikaru's...it'll destroy us...even the ones below..."_

Kamichi did a shivering sigh. "Don't be so sure. I-I have a jutsu that can maybe help protect us. We'll be fine..."

Another painfully loud scream from the monster that Tarina had become made the lights flicker and go out all of a sudden, the only source of illumination being the powerful auras coming from the battleroom where all three of the demonic children stood in an evened-out triangle, ready to finish off the battle.

Kamichi swore loudly, knowing that anything could happen if the power was out, whether it be a surprise power surge from Tarina that killed them all, or a Keeper coming up to snipe them. He put his hands together into a sign and yelled, "Protection!"

A huge, rocky half circle-shaped thing washed over and above Kamichi's group in the hallway, serving as a sheild that would partially protect them if anything were to get too out of control. The only thing was, the shelter made everything darker and stuffier than ever, and it could deactivate itself on any ninja's command. So if a Keeper had come along and wanted to make them come out of hiding...

Kamichi shook himself out of the disturbing thoughts. He looked around the silent rock shelter he had made to check and see if everyone had gotten in okay. Masami, Katsumi, himself...but where was Cyclone?!

"Ooh, gosh...Cyclone!!" Kamichi screamed at the side of the rock wall, hoping the little thing would hear him from the outside of the shelter. There was no answer.

Masami had a worried look on her tear-stained face. "Wh-where is he?!"

Kamichi sighed. "He's probably outside somewhere. He must of ran out of the jutsu's range so he could help out Hikaru or something. Stupid little..."

_**...Outside of the Hallway Shelter...**_

Cyclone ran out into the battlefeild, out of his mind, not knowing what to expect at all. He ran in the middle of the glowing triangle of the children about to fight (with Tarina at her full-demonic form now, which looked even more vicious than when she transformed at Skyvoid Tower), holding his hands out desperately. "Please!! Stop!!"

"Ayyyy! What's this useless little squirt doing here?!" Hirokazu yelled, pointing a finger menacingly. "Outta my way!!"

"Cyclone! What're you doing?!" Hikaru growled loudly, threateningly.

Cyclone heard Hikaru's tone of voice and shivered. "P-please...Master...I know you don't want to fight...y-you'll get hurt!"

Hirokazu did a demonic cackle, hands on his hips in an arrogant manner. "You bet your furry little butt he's gonna get hurt, as well as this huge disgusting thing right here." He sneered disrespectfully towards the Sunrise Demon/Tarina.

The Sunrise Demon roared ferociously in response to the insult, taking a big step (or, I should say stomp) towards Hirokazu. The Demon in this kind of form had no ability whatsoever to talk. The power inside was too suffocating and painful, holding both her and Tarina back from educated speech. Tarina's spirit was in it's full form, but not it's true power.

Cyclone looked around helplessly, feeling very small. A tingling feeling in his stomach was making him shiver even more. He was terrified. All of these monsters...two of them which he had once known so very well...their sweet faces just hidden into that dark mask of hatred...

Hikaru wildly shook his unruly head of a silvery-black mane. _"Cyclone, just get out of here!! We have to finish this!"_

Cyclone couldn't contain himself, his eyes filled with tears. He needed a hug. He wanted Omari or Tarina or Hikaru or at least one of the others who lived in the hideout to be there for him. He needed someone. "B-but I don't want you to get hurt!!"

_"You'll be the one hurt if you don't leave in a second..." _Hikaru muttered in an aggravated tone.

Poor Cyclone was bawling, another rumble of the power surges and lightning going on outside put together. He was shaking. It was way too much for him to handle. He suddenly broke ranks and ran to Hikaru, grabbing his leg and holding onto it. "No!! I should've respected you more! I should've listened to you more! Then maybe you wouldn't have gotten into this mess! Please just stop fighting!"

"Uugh! Get offa be!" Hikaru looked enraged as he cruelly (and partially unintentionally) shook his powerful leg wildly and throwing the screaming Cyclone out of the way. A little too much out of the way. Poor Cyclone slammed into the wall across the room, with the brick he hit actually pushing inward due to his impact.

Cyclone flopped to the floor, moaning, and if that weren't enough, the brick that he had pushed in with his body had caused a huge shining rock about the size and shape of a lumpy basketball to eject from another brick in the wall and fall upon him.

"Oof!" Cyclone grunted as he sat up with a jolt, looking down at the Rainbow Boulder with shock and uncertainity. He was all bloody and dizzy and crying, but not upset enough to not recgonize that it was what could've prevented all this mess in the first place. It was magical, shimmering and vibrating violently. Too bad it wouldn't affect anything now.

He quickly picked up the boulder with all of his strength and carried it to his own little corner of the room, as there was nowhere else to go. If he tried getting into Kamichi's small shelter past the other side of the room, he wouldn't make it there alive. As he cuddled with the Rainbow Boulder, tears and drops of blood dripping and dissolving upon it, it gave him a sort of familiar, warm feeling. Cyclone had to wait until the battle was over.

Meanwhile, the taunts in the battle area were finished. No more fancy talk. It was time for it to end...

_**...Meanwhile...**_

Omari was sitting in a corner, crying. Everyone else just stared, frightened, troubled, disturbed, not knowing what to do. All of them were aware of what had happened to Tarina. A full transformation. And soon, a full release in power would follow. Hikaru wasn't as strong and Tarina's energy was somewhat blocking off the drama that had been going on with his demon before.

"I'm so scared..." Omari whispered. "What'll happen to Hikaru and Tarina and Cyclone? And Kamichi...nobody's safe out there!!" She couldn't stand to see any of them die. It would be tragic. It just couldn't happen...

Another huge rumble.

Ryo and the other boys sort of huddled up, in a very tense mood. Midori whimpered and cuddled closer to Masakaru, who just sat there with an emotionless face, chin rested on his hand. Kouki was sitting in a corner, upset and eyes filled with tears. Zamu was biting his nails, sitting against the wall, while Slicer was just laying on the floor on his back, gazing at the ceiling casually. Kiroku was still pouting that he didn't get to do anything fun. Haku just sat, daydreaming, drowning in his own invisible pool of sulk. Zabuza was silently fretting about Tarina, and although he didn't want anyone to know, everyone knew anyway. On the whole, the group was desperate and slowly starting to turn nuts.

Omari started to sob even harder, harder, harder, trying not to throw up because she was gasping and crying so much. She didn't know what to do. She felt so weak because she couldn't do anything at all. It made her upset. It made her crazy. She raised her fist and punched the wall that she faced, hard. It left a small, fist-sized dent. Her cheeks were sparking, but she was too weak to do anything and the enormously powerful chakra being used on the upper floor basically cancelled out everybody else.

She suddenly lost control of her throat and stomach and emotions, and threw up all over the place and herself although there wasn't much in her stomach. Everybody recognized what the heaving sounds were and turned, half of the group looking disgusted by this and half looking very sorry for her. This made the now sticky and dirty Omari cry even harder, to an extent where many people would think it's impossible for a person to cry so hard.

Haku was the only one who was nice enough and considered it a responsibilty to help her out. Heaving a big, heavy sigh, he went over to silently take her hand and into the bathroom to help clean her up, trying to resist not touching her since she was covered in vomit. But, he did it anyway and the others were grateful that they didn't have to, although they certainly did feel bad for her.

Most of the group thought/knew that they were finished. It was completley silent.

Nobody knew what to do anymore.

_**...Meanwhile, in Some Unspecified Chamber of the Temple...**_

_"Uuugh...this disturbance..."_

The being inside of the chamber shivered with annoyance as another rumble came from the far side of the temple. Someone was fighting. No, more like two. Three powerful ones were fighting each other, and something bad was about to happen. Nevertheless, it had woken him up. Sleeping time was over.

_"Ummm..."_ The being groaned, making the entire chamber hum and vibrate. He had been floating in his sleep in the huge white chamber, resting for over 10 years now and he had been enjoying it. But...the disturbance had seemed more important. Maybe it was interesting. Or, maybe it indicated that it was time for him to fully awaken and meet some new people.

The being raised his hands (each with only four digits) to his head, trying to make sense of the disturbance. His eyes were still shut as he was still sleepy, but duty was calling. He hoped it wasn't that bad so he wouldn't have to move...

He saw the battleroom, where the ruckus was coming from. He rubbed his temples, mentally scrolling around to see who exactly was fighting. It was three demons. All three of them were related. He zoomed in harder to see. One of them he knew. It was the oldest one. The being knew that something like Sayomi was her birthame, but he was almost positive that she was recognzied by something else nowadays, although he couldn't remember.

This had caught his interest. It was definately time to wake up. Since he was spiritually too light for gravity to hold him down, he had to take his hands away from his temples to perform a jutsu that could finally bring his legs to the ground. He rubbed his eyes, exausted, and turned to look over at the huge grandfather clock, the only thing that occupied the white tiled room.

He watched as the hands on the strange clock (in a different language) suddenly changed course, an indication that there was only about six minutes left...six minutes before the older demon girl would be obliterated. This meant forever. There was no escaping what was going to happen. She was going to die, sacraficing herself for the two that she was fighting.

He would feel bad for the girl, Sayomi, even if his kind didn't normally have emotions. He couldn't show emotion, although he understood it. He couldn't have emotions because he wasn't human, and he was considered an evil exile who only was out to cause trouble.

...But this disturbance...it changed everything. Sayomi had been the being's first friend, the last person he had seen before he had last fallen asleep about ten years ago. He couldn't say he loved her, but even a stony mind like his own didn't want to see her gone for good. He also didn't want to see the reactions that her friends would have after her permanent disappearance.

He couldn't prevent the obliteration since he wouldn't be able to break from the chamber in time, but maybe he could do something else.

He was the Master of Time, after all.

It was time to open up his own chamber and see the world.

_**...Back on the Battling Area...**_

Hikaru charged for Tarina's demon, this time intending to kill her. All of his feelings for everyone in the world had been put aside. He didn't care about anyone anymore. He just wanted to kill both of his enemies.

The Sunrise Demon was ready for him, disappearing right before he hit her and reappearing in a different area of the room. She thought she was safe here, but Hirokazu was waiting for her. He jumped off of his spiderlike perch on the ceiling where he had been hiding for a few split seconds, and brought her down to the ground.

Hirokazu/the Nova Demon was holding his rival sister down, sinking his fangs into her back as hard as possible as Hikaru was starting to charge for the both of them. The Sunrise Demon screamed out in absolute pain, foaming with a gooey, abnormal type of demonic blood spurting everywhere. The Nova Demon had injected some seriously deadly poison into her body when biting her.

Hikaru jumped on the Sunrise Demon, right before she rolled over and fired a huge Supernova Laserbeam in both of their directions. Both of the boys were hit and helplessly thrown backwards by the tremendous attack, which is even worse when controlled by the demon herself.

The Sunrise Demon was somewhat relieved that she had stunned her two enemies, but the flopped to the floor, helpless. The poison was already having it's effect on her, and the true Tarina within the Demon was emotionally weak at the sight of her brothers (moreso Hikaru) getting hurt. It pained her and it made her weaker yet spiritually powerful enough to start having control over her own thoughts and actions.

Tarina also sensed that both of her brothers were getting even stronger than before and slowly advancing their forms by just fighting. Their emotion systems were generally more sensitive. They were both quick to anger, and that made them even more dangerous.

And...she had to save them, before both they and everyone else present in the temple was dead. That included Omari. That included Slicer, and Zamu, and Midori's group, and even Haku and Zabuza (which she was almost certain were there, the idiots).

There was no stopping what was going to happen, anyway. If she just killed the both of them, it would be bad, not to mention almost impossible to do and probably wouldn't work considering how she was outnumbered. The most Tarina could do now would be to attack them hard enough so that their demons would recess back into their chambers. And even that would cost her her own afterlife. The energy that she would be giving up to make the demons hide again would be enormously exceeding what power she already had. It would be too much along with her brothers' resistance and she would be gone.

It was for everyone's own good. Although she would be dead and they would all miss her, it had to be done. She had been through a good life, had great connections with great people...it wouldn't be so bad, right?

No. It _would_ be bad. Tarina didn't want to be nonexistent. She would normally say that she was never afraid of death, and that her spirit would always be alive, but when she was faced with the fact that her spirit would be dead forever and it was _real..._it was impossible to think about and she admitted that she didn't want to go away.

She wanted to keep seeing Omari...and Zabuza...and Hikaru...all of the others that she had met and loved and cherished...she wouldn't even get the chance to say goodbye to any of them. Tears filled the eyes of the demon's body, and in seconds, they were streaming to the floor as well as the blood pouring out of her back still as Hikaru and Hirokazu started to recover from the laserbeam.

Her brothers were standing now, both of them with the same attack in mind, with Tarina in great knowledge of what it was. Of course it was going to be the Ultra Supernova Laserbeam. It was the strongest attack possible. Both of theirs put together would obliterate her if she didn't counterattack with the same thing.

But even counterattacking was risky. If the two put together was stronger than Tarina, then her brother's demons wouldn't be hurt enough to go back into the chamber. She had to put every ounce of energy in it, every part of her body and mind...if she didn't stop Hirokazu and Hikaru, then all would be lost for the world.

_Here it comes...gotta make this count...I have to throw aside all of my friends for a moment and just fight...because if I don't...then my friends will end up dead, anyway._

Tarina quickly made a few hand signs with her clumsy huge demon claws, feeling the power bubbling up inside slowly as she watched both of her demonic brothers getting ready for the attack...

The Sunrise Demon knew what was going on and was definately alarmed, especially now because Tarina had control of the body and was about to finish it all off. _"Wait, Tarina! Y-You don't know what you're doing!!"_

_Yes, I do, _Tarina thought quickly in an aggravated manner.

_"But you can't just kill yourself like that!! You do realize that you'll be killing me, too, right?!"_

_Exactly._

_"But I don't want to die, you ignorant little brat! How come I never had any say in this!? Why should I die and the Nova Demon and the Midnight Demon won't!? They'll be the ones who won!!"_

_I don't care about whatever rivalry you and your demon brothers have. They may be still alive after this, but they'll still be locked up in their chambers. I'm only concerned with saving Hikaru and the other ones I love in the temple. If I'm going down, then you're going down with me..._

Tarina mentally blocked out whatever desperate gripes the Sunrise Demon was screaming at her, and watched in a focus manner how the attack was going to come...

The time was now, and a huge shudder ran through her body as she heard her two monsterous brothers scream in unison, _"Ultra Supernova Laserbeam!!"_

Two impossibly huge, brilliantly colored streams of explosive light shot out of Hikaru and Hirokazu's mouths, not at each other, but at Tarina since that was each their main target. As soon as they had released the attack, Tarina did the same.

Tarina's laserbeam was stronger than one of the Midnight or Nova Demon's, but the question was, could she overpower both of them? This was the only time to find out.

Tarina screamed as she inserted every single ounce of power that she had stored inside of her body into her attack as her two brother's attack had struck her like 10,000 bolts of lightning. The attack had broken every bone and organ in her body, but somehow, it didn't stop her from supporting the laserbeam that had shot out of her mouth.

She was feeling herself dying, feeling herself crying on the inside, her voicebox had gone past being broken but somehow it didn't keep her remaining spirit from screaming in pain and fury, as she was putting everything she had into the attack at her own brothers, going past everything she had, making the Sunrise Demon's body burn.

A horrified Cyclone, still clutching the Rainbow Boulder, had already scrambled away from the rumbling battlefeild and back into the hallway where Kamichi had made a small hole in the stone sheild so he could squeeze in, since the room was going to get fried.

The entire temple shook, everything feeling like it was going to collapse, making every heart in the building skip and shudder, as all three of the demon's greatest power collided to the furthest extent possible. All of the windows and cages in the entire place was shattered, Kamichi's stone shelter was broken, every alarm went off...

A grandfather clock somehow symbolizing the end of something in a distant chamber had started to sound...each sound of the bell making Tarina hurt even more...her insides decentigrating, every memory she had flashing in her mind, slightly making her spirit satisfied but making her even more upset and realizing what was happening to her, what she wasn't able to see anymore...

Tarina was trying her hardest, yelling her loudest, the charm starting to shake and about to pop off of her head as all of the light-based energy shot out of her body, every inch and molecule of power, every inch of emotion, every inch of heart.

Her laserbeam had won out compared to her two brother's combined. It had overpowered the other one and had hit Hikaru and Hirokazu even harder that theirs had hit Tarina, yet somehow preserving their bodies and only attacking the Nova and Midnight Demon.

Tarina was screaming as well as Hikaru, Hirokazu, and all three of the demons corresponding to their bodies, and yet the noise and power distributed was fading, fading...

There was a huge yet brief flash of light and unknown bright colors that even those in the basement could see. It had stunned everything, frozen everything in it's tracks as a finale instead of a large explosion. The building had suddenly stopped rumbling.

It was over in a second.

_Silence._

Hikaru and Hirokazu, suddenly back to their normal selves, were coughing up blood and on their stomachs, half concious and energy drained. Blood and ashes was splattered everywhere in the room. After about fifteen seconds, Kamichi and the others huddled in the hallway had rose from the ground, mesmerized, terrified, confused, and having a weak, heavy feeling in their hearts.

Haku's group from the basement had rushed upstairs after the battle, having the same feeling, but in the need of knowing what had happened considering that their cage lock and cage itself had suddenly broken.

Even Nuboru's group, with all of the Keepers and prisoners and everybody else inside of the whole Avalanche Temple had come quickly to see the results of battle, knowing it was over. Hikaru and Hirokazu had finally awoken after being stepped on and unintentionally kicked around since they were not the main attraction when everybody went in the battleroom. Hikaru, despite his charm and bloody body desperately hurting, got up and ran over to what they were looking at.

Everybody was looking at Tarina, or, what was left of her.

A simple outline, almost like the coloring page-like characters that Tarina had made out of the camouflage guards back in Nuboru's office, but she had a more ghostlike appearance and was more lifeless-looking than ever. It was a horrific sight. The image of her spirit was fading quickly and everyone was just staring, in awe, in horror. Tarina was just laying there, looked as if she had seen something she wished she had not seen.

As soon as Omari pushed her way through the crowd of over 50 and saw the fainting and burning image of the her beloved best friend, she gasped. The final image of what appeared to be a terrified outline of Tarina had suddenly poofed away, with the little charm that had always been on her forehead left on the ground, making a tinkling noise as if it was a dropped coin.

She was gone.

"Tarina...it can't be..." Haku's eyes were widened, as he was the first to react as he bent down and picked up the sun-shaped semiflat object left on the ground. It felt hard, like metal, yet warm. He couldn't believe what had just happened, as the overall greif hadn't even set in yet.

Zabuza was just staring.

_"N-No...noooooooo!!" _Omari was shrieking as everyone else just stared in shock, not knowing what to do. Her cheeks were sparking and her barbels popped out, as her eyes turned a bright green. She flopped onto the bloody ground in which Tarina had disappeared on and screamed. "No...T-Tarina...sh-she can't be gone..."

Hikaru was standing in the backround of all this, just blinking, tears starting to fill his eyes as he discovered what happened. _"I...I...I did this...?"_

Nobody had answered him.

Hirokazu was just sitting on the floor, with his hair wild and face covered in blood, eyes bloodshot and huge. He didn't remember what happened at all. In his mind, the last thing that had happened to him was that he had no power and Tarina and Hikaru had been bullying him around and begging to fight him. He was silent.

Masami ran to the front and took the charm from Haku, tears streaming down her face. "N-No...my little girl...she...ooooh!" She was the second person to break down sobbing. She turned to face Zabuza, who she figured he knew considering he was a ghost. "Wh-where is she!?"

"She's...gone..." Zabuza said quietly, his fists clenched and shaking.

"Gone where?!"

"She's just...gone."

_"Damn..." _Kamichi whispered, eyes widened but not crying along with his other teammates, who just stood and stared with shock. So that's what it took to bring the great Tarina down. Two teenagers taken over by demons put together. Now, he was feeling guilty that he was only looking at the statistics of the battle compared to that his old friend was now gone for good. He would never see her face again, although he hadn't in about a year or so. But...for some reason it was different...

Then, all of a sudden, there was laughter. Cruel laughter.

Everyone from the huddled crowd turned to see Nuboru, standing on the west of the group by himself. He had an evil glare on his face, yet the smirk was unmistakeable. "What's the matter with you idiots? Tarina was a menace, and now she got what she deserved. She's gone now. It sickens me how you are all boo-hooing over some stupid monster that wanted to be treated like a human. Bwahahhaha!"

_"You're the monster..." _Omari was growling ferociously, yet too weak to do anything. "Don't you _DARE _laugh at Tarina! She risked our lives to save everybody in this room, including you, and now you just take advantage of her death and insult her!?"

Nuboru sneered at her. "I don't care what Tarina did. She didn't save anyone, considering how you pathetic little fools can't seem to manage to get through life without her. If she hadn't come from her little heaven, then none of you intruders would have even been alive right now."

Now it was Katsumi's turn to get enraged, something Nuboru wasn't expecting. "That's NOT the point! Omari's right! You're only laughing at her because she's been obliterated! If she weren't, then you wouldn't be saying anything to her! You're a coward and a jerk!!"

Nuboru was looking mad now as he looked at the entire group of Keepers, who were all glaring at him. Tarina had been the enemy, but disrespecting her like that had made everyone upset. "What's wrong with you guys!? You should be laughing, too! We've worked our butts off for ten years to catch this cocky, bitchy little devil and now she's _gone_! It's more of a miracle than a tragedy if you ask me!"

Hikaru's head instantly whipped around to give him Nuboru deadliest stare that he would ever get_. "What did you just say about my sister?!"_

Nuboru snorted, seemingly not intimidated at all. "You heard me, you little termite. Tarina was worthless and only a burden. It's a relief that she's obliterated now.

In seconds, Zabuza was in front of Nuboru with his sword, eyes bloodshot and demonlike. He obviously had had enough of him trash-talking Tarina.

Haku gasped and quickly got behind Zabuza, grabbed him, and pulled him backwards. "No, Zabuza, no! This won't do anybody any good!"

_"Stop holding me back!! I have to kill him!! I have to kill him right now!!" _Zabuza was screaming in a loud, demonic voice, his eye pupils gone and skin starting to turn bright red and hairy.

Haku was crying now. "I know it hurts, but you have to hold back! Tarina wouldn't want you to-"

"Shuuuut up!! I can't take this! It's his fault that she's dead! It's his fault!" Zabuza cried, yet he dropped his sword and then flopped to the floor, gasping and motionless. Haku just looked down sorrowfully at him.

The real pain hadn't even started to set in yet.

Nuboru now looked a little worried. Tensions were high, and at least 10 people were crying now and the others looked just plain mad, even his own workers. He was afraid that the intruder group would gang up on him now and kill him. But, no. Most of them were too weak. That made him snicker even more than before.

Haku looked furious now. "If you don't want to be dead, then I suggest you stop laughing right now. Because I'm not holding anybody back this time. That was your warning."

Nuboru gulped and was silent.

Haku didn't want to start sobbing or throwing fits on the spot like Omari, Midori, Hikaru, and Zabuza had already did. He wanted to kill Nuboru, he really did, but nobody could really be pinpointed for a situation like this. It was hard to think of what obliterated really meant for Tarina. It was almost as if this was just her death, and her spirit would be floating around happily and in the hearts of everyone forever.

But that wasn't the case. She was nothing now, nonexistent altogether. There was no such thing as Tarina or her spirit when it got down to the technical stuff, and now that it was known that her spirit and mind itself was gone, you couldn't picture her in your heart anymore.

After a few more minutes, the small group of Keepers and temple workers started to slowly depart from the room except for Masami, Katsumi and Hirokazu, who was still in shock. Nuboru stayed behind for a bit with a neutral look in his eyes, then finally started to leave after assuming that nobody wanted to mess with him or wanted him around anymore. He was lucky to leave the room with his life.

_That kid...Tarina...she was truly a legend...for a stupid demon, of course. But I refuse to consider her as a legend...for the side that she was fighting on. For the way she acted. She will forever remain an enemy... _Were Nuboru's last thoughts before he departed the room and back into his quarters.

That left the Kingpin Kunais, Midori's team, Kamichi's team, and Ryo's team of two in the blood-splattered room. The only sounds in the room were Omari and Midori's sobbing, whom everyone chose to leave alone. The rest were crying quietly. This lasted for only about five minutes.

Hikaru sniffled (still half confused and in shock), and then piped up, _"I...I can't believe this h-happened...Tarina's gone..."_

Cyclone, with the Rainbow Boulder clumsily stuffed in his pouch, looked over at Hikaru with sorrow, wanting to go over and cuddle but knew that it wasn't the right time. He slowly took the sacred item out of his large furry pocket and glared at it. They wouldn't be needing it anymore.

Hikaru, still crazy-haired and mentally unstable, then glared over at Hirokazu. _"Th-this is all your fault!!"_

Hirokazu sniffled, looking over at him with his large, worried, and innocent eyes. "Wh-what...?"

Hikaru suddenly leapt from his spot on the ground and tackled him. _"I SAID, this is all your FAULT!! TARINA WOULDN'T BE GONE NOW IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU AND YOUR STUPID MOTHER!" _Hikaru knew that Masami was technically his mother, but he refused to consider her that, especially now.

Masami didn't say or do anything in response. She didn't even move or flinch, with Tarina's charm still placed in her hand. She was staring at it, her tearstained face looking very upset and in a trance.

Hirokazu looked confused but hurt, finally starting to grasp the situation. "I...I didn't...m-mean to hurt anyone..."

Haku looked over at Hikaru with warning eyes. His voice sounded raspy and tired. "Hikaru...pointing fingers isn't going to do anything..."

One of Hikaru's claws formed on his hand and he slashed his twin brother in the face, hard, so hard that it would leave a scar on his skin forever. "Shut up, Haku! I'm pointing fingers at him because he DID hurt Tarina, reguardless of whether he tried to or not!!"

Hirokazu was crying now, droplets of newer blood streaming down his cheeks. His entire face looked as if it was painted red. _"I-I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean to...y-you were the one who forced me to fight! I didn't want to fight! And then you activated this monster inside of me..."_

Hikaru was screaming now. _"I don't care!! I don't care!! I hate you!! I hate you so much...you, too, Masami..." _He moaned, rolling off of his twin brother and fainting dead away onto the floor.

Hirokazu ended up sobbing.

"...Why did this have to happen to us...why?" Zamu was saying quietly, head in hands. "Why decide to save us? We were nothing."

Kiroku's brow wrinkled. "If you ask me, it would take _a lot_ of heart and a _lot _of guts to do something like that for us. We shouldn't even consider the crap that Nuboru said a few minutes ago. That ol' Nuboru guy probably would have just come up with a quick scheme to save himself if he was in Tarina's place."

"It was either her death or all of our deaths including her own..." Slicer said emotionlessly. "She didn't have a choice."

"Hey...y-you guys..." Cyclone didn't know if it was the right time to bring this up, but nothing seemed to be the right time for anything anymore, so what did it matter if he showed it to them or not? "Look what I have..." he said in a not-too-excited tone as he held up the Rainbow Boulder.

Everybody turned and looked, not too fascinated.

"It's past the time where our mission results were due..." Slicer rasped. "Even if we did bring it to Gato, we would get a horrible rating and we woudn't get paid at all. Just forget about it. It's worthless now." he put his head down and sighed, voice shaking. "What're we gonna do...I don't want to go anywhere anymore...I just want Tarina to come back..."

Everybody silently agreed.

Cyclone sniffled. The worse possible thing that could've happened, happened. He stared hard at the troublemaking rock in his two small paws. _"It's all your fault..." _He whispered as he hurled the big rock at the wall across the room.

It slammed into the front wall near Omari and cracked in half, something nobody would ever think would happen.

Omari stopped crying for a moment, turned, and looked at the crumbles of the rock that was left behind. The remains of the rock didn't glow anymore, but there had been something contained inside of the "boulder" the entire time.

It was a kunai. An Ultra Kunai. The Rainbow Kunai. It had a very bright glow to it, and was beautiful, making the tears stuck in Omari's eyes shimmer and blur her vision. Nobody else seemed to notice what had come out of the unwanted rock, and she didn't want to bother anyone with that peice of information. She merely picked up the vibrating kunai and stuffed it in her pocket, crying some more.

She would give it to Tarina if she ever saw her again. That is, if miracles did exist.

_**...Meanwhile...**_

_I...am I out...?_

_This old chamber...I don't feel it's air or energy anymore. My eyes haven't gotten used to the outside world, yet...I've finally broken free..._

_Ahh, here we go. Now I can see. Gosh, it's been a while...they've really spruced up the place ever since I went to sleep. I won't be doing that anytime soon..._

_Hmm, which hallway should I turn to now? It's been a long time since I've walked around here, let alone walk...left foot, right foot, rig-no...left...yes...that's it. I'm getting there...hmm...maybe it's just better if I float._

_That disturbance I felt from before..._it _has happened. The demon girl that I had met a long time ago...she's gone now. Her spirit's obliterated. I wonder where she is right now. I wonder if she even knew that her spirit was going to die..._

_What a shame, to die recieving and giving a vicious attack to your own brothers without being able to say goodbye. It would really be horrid to be her. But, I don't have any demons in me or any brothers and sisters...I'm only considered a demon myself._

_One lonesome, childish demon...always out to mess with time and people's lives, constantly causing trouble._

_That's what my old legend is suppossed to say about me. Now how mean is that? I've never wanted to hurt anyone...those other times were only mistakes! I was only trying to help people!_

_And I'll prove myself this time before I have to go to sleep again. I'll help Sayomi get back, and all of her little human friends and her little brothers will be happy again..._

_Although I don't particularly like to see humans feeling joy, since I'm mainly associated with death...this time may be special. It'll be fun...maybe I'll be able to make a new friend and these people that I'm about to meet won't think I'm a freak..._

_Hee hee hee! Just the thought of a group of friends...people who actually wouldn't think I'm some sort of freak...it tickles me so. Honestly, who am I kidding?_

_Ahh, well. This is for Sayomi. The only person who ever accepted me. Hope I get to see her again...maybe bring her back from the dead if I feel like it. Even if I mess with the flow of time and get myself in trouble, who cares? My existence is worthless. I'm already in the Land of Exiles now, so how much lower could I get?_

_I want to see a human again. I want to get to know one again, yet someone different than Tarina. They're so special and interesting, each one so diverse! This will be a nice experiment._

_I want to see what these humans can do._

_**...Turn to the Next Chapter After Reading This!...**_

_**This was such a hard chapter to write, and not just because I didn't want to kill Tarina off with the chance that she'll never come back. It was hard enough killing Tarina off the first time because people seem to like her a lot/enjoy making fun of her (Blayke, lol).**_

_**But, it was hard for me to portray the feelings that were expressed when Tarina's spirit was obliterated. Tarina's first death when coming in between Naruto and Omari had a more warmer, emotional feeling to it as a result, while this particular death had a much colder feeling to it, especially with Nuboru's added mockingness and the silence between the group. Please tell me how you felt when I made this modification with a colder version of Tarina's death with a more raw twist to it, because I found it rather hard to write but fun.**_

_**All in all, this chapter was VERY hard to organize and plot, especially how each character reacts and such. Zabuza was particularly hard since of his hard outer shell, yet he comes out a bit when its down to people making fun of her death and I didn't want anything to seem too mushy.**_

_**The fight scene wasn't as long as my other fight scenes (in case you notice or care) because when three disproportionately large demons are fighting each other in limited space, it's hard to change the diversity of their moves. Large creatures can't move around like small, agile characters like Haku can. With characters like Haku and Kamichi, you can do more because they're smaller and that somehow makes a huge difference.**_

_**When I was writing how Tarina knew what was going to happen to her, tears literally filled my eyes. I didn't want it to happen xD, but that's what happens when you write sad stuff sometimes, you know?**_

_**I hope you guys like the new character coming up and out of his chamber, and I hope you can get a grasp of this "thing"s personality. I'm sure you'll have a fun time wondering what this Master of Time will be like once he meets Omari and the others. I sort of portrayed him as a "childish yet quirky demon", but he wont be what you think he will be. Also, he might be able to help out with Tarina, which is a plus.**_

_**Well, tell me what you think and I will be very happy!! :D Seeya soon!**_


	12. The Ultimate Mission: 12: New Friend

_**...The Ultimate Mission: 12: New Friend...**_

_**Hmm...I haven't got much to say here, so...Happy Reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :D**_

Everybody just sat inside of the battleroom, crying, not knowing what to do or what to say. Now wasn't the time and place for anything. It was just sad. Ever since the Midnight and Nova Demons had retreated back into their chambers without much notifcation, Hikaru and Hirokazu were still in shock. Hikaru was probably the most upset, sniffling and sitting with Omari, while Hirokazu was basically being shunned and sitting in his own corner, with Masami still being by herself and thinking about how her only daughter, her first child, was gone for good.

A few minutes ago, there had been a huge rumble in the distance and a large creaking sound, as if a large door had been opened. Some had thought that it could've been a chamber monster escaping, but nobody was sure and nor did they care at all.

It was hard to care when your best friend and only source of joyfulness and protection was now gone.

Omari tried not to think of Tarina as a sad, floating blob with no name, personality, mind, or spirit. She tried not to think of her as something that was just void. She had to remain hopeful...somehow. They couldn't stay in here forever. She cleared her raspy, filled-up throat, and turned to face the rest of the group. "You guys...we...we should get going."

Ryo looked up, his face tearstained as well. He didn't like seeing anyone die, whether he knew them or not. It brought him back to the time where his hideout had been raided. "Wh-where? Where will we go?"

Omari sighed, shaking her head, sniffling. "I...I guess we should all go back to the hideout..." she then turned to where Katsumi was. "I know you have nowhere to go...you should come with us for now." she didn't know what to say about Masami or Hirokazu, as there would be plenty of conflict if they went.

Katsumi merely nodded, grateful for this.

But hey, Omari was the one in charge and the two had no place to go. Neither of them had devious intentions whatsoever, so what was the big problem? As long as they kept Hikaru under control...

Omari forced a slight smile to herself and wiped the tears away. Tarina would have wanted her to stay positive. Tarina had known what she was doing, and what she had done was for Omari and the rest of the group to enjoy the rest of their lives. "Yeah...w-we had better get going. All of us." she said, to assure Hirokazu and Masami that they were allowed to come, too.

She then stood from her spot, trying not to look at the blood-splattered room. She slowly and painfully walked over to the sleeping Hikaru, bending down and gently shaking his shoulder. "...Hikaru."

Hikaru made a sniffing noise and didn't move.

Omari shook him a little harder this time. "Hikaru...c'mon, get up. It's time to leave this place."

Hikaru sat up slowly with a very sorry, upset look in his eyes. "I-I killed her..." he started to sob. "I killed my sister..."

Omari's eyes widened as her uncomfortably dried-up eyes started to water and sting all over again as she knelt and gave him a warm hug. "No, no, no...y-you didn't kill her. A lot of things happened, you know? It was a tough situation, and she knew what she was doing. She sacraficed herself to save you and everyone else."

Zamu threw Omari a wet washcloth from behind and she wiped the blood and tears off of his face. "It'll be okay...you just need some rest..."

_To be honest, I need a little rest myself..._ Omari thought in an aggravated manner as she faintly recalled what Zamu had talked to her about staying for a while at Master Atoshi's. But, with Hikaru in this condition, there was no way she could leave everything up to him. If there ever was a time where the entire team needed her, it was now.

Hikaru looked a little better now as Omari continued to comfort him, although still very sad.

Omari tried her best to give him a pleasant, reassuring look, kissed him gently, and then proceeded to pick up all of their stuff to leave.

Haku saw this and couldn't help but sigh to himself. He normally wasn't the jealous type at all, but...he didn't know. Omari had always been special to him. It was just the same old feelings being renewed. He had always been the one to be around and protect Omari, and now, just seeing her with Hikaru made everything seem so different. Of course Hikaru and Omari deserved each other, and he would never do anything to break them apart since they belonged together. But still it made him feel kind of...

No. There were way more important things to think about. Tarina, he and Zabuza's whole reason for coming here, was now-

...Zabuza. Haku had to check on him. He nervously turned to see his master, huddling at the side of the room by himself, in a pool of Tarina's blood and not seeming to care. "Z-Zabuza...I...are you okay...?" Just the sight of the poor man made Haku woozy.

"I'm...fine."

Haku looked worried. "No, you're not."

"Sh-she was so s-stupid..." Zabuza snarled, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "She shouldn't have gotten herself involved in this mess...no...w-we should've been watching her more..."

Haku sighed. "I know, Zabuza...but...like Omari said...what she did was for the best. She saved all of us, and that's what she had planned on doing."

"S-so stupid..." Zabuza had his head in his hands now. "S-so childish...the kid should've been more careful...n-now what'll I do...?" a small, single teardrop fell from his face and onto the floor, although he wasn't crying openly.

The last part of Zabuza's speech confused Haku. 'Now what'll I do'? Zabuza had always pretended that he didn't care about Tarina, and now he had just said something that made Tarina sound like the most important thing in the world to him.

Although Haku did not reply to Zabuza's last sentence, he still went on to say, "She was always chasing me around...jumping on my back when I at least expected it...flirting with me...I-I was stupid...I was always pushing her away...I-I hope she understood that I didn't mean it...y-you never realize what you have until it's gone..."

Haku blinked, a little surprised by this. Zabuza had never, ever gotten so personal before. It was weird hearing him talk like this. "Uhh...yeah. But don't worry. She knew you cared. I mean, if she really thought you didn't care about her, she never would have kept chasing after you."

Zabuza just sniffed and looked away.

Omari did a huge sigh and tried her best to sound loud and authoritive as she started to step toward the lit hallway leading to the rest of chambers and passages in the temple, one of which would lead them back to the enterance. "Okay, everyone...we had better get going...don't worry. We'll fin our way out of here as a team. I really don't think anyone's out to stop us anymore..."

In about two minutes, everybody was on their feet, ready to go, silent, somewhat pained to leave the bloody room behind as it was the last room that occupied Tarina's soul. ...But what else was there to do besides mourn for a bit and move on? What was done was done...

Omari led the group to the doorway, and was about to step out, but then stopped all of a sudden. A small sparkle formed in the hallway, as if something was about to appear. Omari gulped and stepped back into the group, watching with great caution.

A distant sound of a ticking clock was heard, echoing throughout the room as the sparkles got bigger and rose off of the ground, starting to form a specific shape of a new arrival.

When the teleportation was complete, everyone just stared, wide-eyed at the thing that had come.

"Hello," the being said plainly, "would you like to be my friend?"

_**...Meanwhile, in the Darkest and Deepest Depths of a Void Environment...**_

"Oof!" Tarina had finally fallen on a flat surface. She had been tumbling for a long time now into what she had thought was going to be an bottomless pit ever since she had disappeared from her ghost state.

She looked around, in a crisscrossed sitting position. There was nothing. She was inside of a gray box, large enough to move around in, but hardly any air. She didn't really need to breathe, anyway. She was dead. She looked down at herself. Her skin was almost completley transparent, and she was a mere gray outline of herself, almost invisible and probably still fading.

Was this the actual nothingness that she was forced to face after her spirit was obliterated?

No, it couldn't be. This was only step one. Her spirit was definately still alive. She still held some of her own appearance, and she could think and feel the hard, gray blank walls surrounding her in the small boxlike environment she was in.

A large gray blob of a ghost, half-covered up in a silky black cloak, suddenly appeared in the room. It had two glowing, bright blue circles on it's "face" that served as eyes and didn't appear to have any other detailed features. It didn't scare Tarina a bit, although it was pretty creepy considering that was what she was going to look like soon enough.

"Hey, what's up?" Tarina smiled innocently at the somehow horrific being hovering two inches before her.

_"Welcome to the world of Nothingness," _the ghost-blob thing said in a deep, grand voice that sounded gloomy and scary all at the same time. "Where dead, disgraceful shinobi spirits roam endlessly in a non-gravitational, grey environment that-"

"Yeaaah, yeah, I know," Tarina waved off, using a smart tone of voice. "I know where I am. I died. Again. Now I'm going to just float around as a gray blob forever. I get it."

The gray blob's tone didn't change, but the expression in his two, circular pale eyes did. It appeared that he was trying to raise an eyebrow. _"You have quite an attitude for someone who was destroyed so willingly."_

Tarina blinked, boldly leaning closer to the thing to check him out a little more. "You really smell like a cardboard box. Is that what I'm going to smell like when I turn into a nasty blob like you, because I can't stand-"

_"Have you no respect or dignity?!" _The ghost raised it's monotone of a voice. "Never have I seen such arrogance and pride in someone who is about to endure an eternity in a void, treacherous environment."

Tarina cocked her head. "Does that really matter right now? Shouldn't I at least have freedom of speech before I'm about to get turned into one of you?"

_"But don't you think that one who is about to be converted into nothing should verbally try to atone for their wrongdoings in their past lives instead of mouthing off to their master?" _The ghost asked her firmly.

"And don't _you_ think that you're seriously starting to tick me off?" Tarina glared at the thing. "I came here to get fried and molded into a blob like you said, and if that's the result of all this, then I want to get it over with now. I'm not atoning for any of the crap I've done. And you're _not _my master, no matter what kind of freakazoid world I'm transported to. The only master I've ever had and I've ever accepted is Master Atoshi."

"_Ahh, him."_ The blob chuckled lightly as he started to fish something out of his cloak pocket with a gray ghostly limb. _"A great man. I doubt I will ever have to deal with him here as I do his pitiful little student, made arrogant and powerful by a mischevious demon. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate you talking to me like that."_

Tarina snickered cockily. "I really don't care what anybody says or appreciates or how I would think of myself. I never really did."

_"Which is why you are here right here and right now."_

"Noooo," Tarina shot him a dirty look, "I'm here because I sacraficed myself to save everyone in the Avalanche Temple. I knew I was going to die, and now I'm proud of what I've done. It doesn't have anything to do with how I respect myself. Pff, shows how much you know."

_"Trust me, I know more than you think I do," _the ghostly being said casually as he pulled a very squishy gray material out of his pocket and plopped it in front of Tarina. _"Here, eat this."_

Tarina slightly scooted away from it with a disgusted look on her face. "What the heck?"

_"It'll nourish you and keep what's left of you still floating around. You'll need it."_

Tarina cocked her head. "How will I need it? I thought this was a place that made me not exist anymore and killed my spirit."

_"It's for statistical work and record keeping. You'll turn into a gray ghost being like myself, but you still won't be able to feel or do anything. You must eat it."_ The gray being said neutrally.

Tarina fingered the lump of stuff with a transparent pinkie and made a face. "What _is_ it, though?"

_"It's matter."_

Tarina glared up at him. "I can do without the sarcasm."

_"No, really. It's matter."_

"Matter?! Everything's matter, you retard!" Tarina screamed, fed up and very angry (not to mention impatient) with all of this. "Matter is something that takes up space. A lot of things take up space. I'm not consuming this until you tell me what it is!"

The blob remained tolerant with Tarina's horrid attitude and insults and just looked at her. _"I can't describe it any more than I did. It's just gray, semisolid matter that serves as your last meal. That's all there is to it, Tarina. Now calm down and please consume it so we can proceed with the vaporizing of your existence."_

Tarina just stared at the gray lump in front of her. It didn't look too delicious, nor did it look edible at all.

_"Tarina, we haven't much time. You must..."_

"Whatever..." Tarina grumbled reluctantly, grabbing the gray gooey lump (that somehow held together) in her hand and stuffing the entire huge glob in her mouth. It tasted like nothing, but somehow filled up her mouth. Something so gooey and big in her mouth with no taste made her sick. She thought she was going to throw up. She gagged, instantly putting a hand to her mouth as she chewed with tears streaming down her cheeks. It was so disgusting...she really didn't want to do any of this...

Finally, after thirty more seconds of chewing the gray stuff, she swallowed. Tarina coughed a little, but managed to keep it down. She coughed a little, shuddering. "Ugh...well...on the bright side...at least I never have to eat that stuff ever again."

Tarina finally looked up at the blob, standing up in a formal manner. "Alright, is that all I have to do? Am I finished?"

_"Yes, you are."_

Tarina sighed quieting down a little. "Well, I guess this is it, huh? Me turning into nothing...let's just get it over with, okay?"

_"Very well, Tarina." _The ghostly being then took out a huge, oddly shaped sword. He was obviously going to stab her with it, which would probably make her disappear and then be released into the void world as a gray blob. _"Anything you would like to say? This is your last chance to say anything...ever."_

Tarina shrugged, speaking in a quiet voice, looking more sorry now than aggresive. But she had to remain strong, even in her spirits that would no longer really exist. "No...I don't really have anything to say. I would tell my brother and best friend and everyone else that I love them, but...they're not really here right now. So, no, there's nothing. Just kill me already."

_"Goodbye, Tarina..." _The gray spirit's voice echoed throughout Tarina's flickering mind as he raised the sword, the deadly sword that would open up a very dark, void world...

A slowly brought the huge, grand weapon over the ghostly shinobi's head...

And then there was nothing.

_**...Back Inside of the Avalanche Temple...**_

"Who...who are you?" Omari asked quietly, with the Rainbow Kunai drawn at the small, childlike humanoid that had suddenly appeared in front of the group.

"I can be whoever you want me to be." It said.

Kamichi had a fierce look on his face. "What's that suppossed to mean!?"

The small creature shrugged. "I can be whoever you want or make me to be. I can be your friend. I can be your worst enemy or your worst nightmare. I can be your savior. I can be the one who kills you. All of that will be revealed in time."

Everybody was stricken silent.

What had magically appeared before them looked like a child, a tiny, innocent-looking 6-year old kid. And yet, it had some very abnormal traits. It had four fingers on each limb, pointed ears, and it's eyes were a bit too big and soft-looking, and it's feet were floating slightly off of the ground. It was an absolutely beautiful child, but too doll-like, causing it's appearance to be slightly disturbing. It definately wasn't human.

Nobody, judging the voice or the appearance, could tell whether the humanoid was a boy or a girl. It had silky, beautiful white hair that barely touched it's shoulders, in a style that could generally apply for either gender. It had snow-white skin, not pale in a sickly manner, but in a graceful and snow-like manner. It wore a purple-and-gold cloak and a tiny box-shaped hat on it's head to match it, with a large, gorgeous platinum pocket watch around it's neck. It also had the darkest and deepest black eyes any of the group had ever seen. They were penetrating and sharp, yet seeming to be relaxing at the same time.

Midori peeked over Omari's shoulder and gushed at the little childlike thing, breaking the confused silence. "Awww, you're so cute!!"

"It's a chamber demon," Katsumi said strictly as she waved her hands, telling the group to move back a little. "We have to be careful."

Midori pushed past Katsumi and everyone else and stepped up to the front, bending down to meet at eye level with the humanoid. "What's your name?"

It shrugged. "You can call me whatever you prefer to. I'm the Master of Time."

Hikaru snorted and. _"This kid's gotta be dreamin'...Master of Time? Pff, gimme a break..." _he said under his breath.

The demonic humanoid blinked, not even looking at Hikaru. "I heard that, and trust me, young child, you will believe me soon enough."

Hikaru looked appalled that he was referred to as a kid. "Young child?! Well, what are _you_, like, six years old!?"

"My appearance doesn't reflect upon my true age at all. I'm timeless."

Hikaru ignored this, and sneered cockily at the doll-like, snowy creature. "Okay, listen little girl-"

"Excuse me, but I'm actually male."

"...Oh." Hikaru's brow wrinkled. There was really no point in arguing with him, since he proved to be intelligent. There was really nothing he could say, since he really couldn't talk to this "Master of Time" as if he was a little kid.

The apparently male humanoid thing had a weird voice, emotionless and even a little echoey. Everything about him was icy and creepy, yet he was beautiful. Out of plain curiosity, the in-trance Midori reached out and touched his arm. He didn't respond at all to Midori's touch, and she shuddered to find out that his skin was soft yet very cold.

_What idiots... _Slicer sighed heavily. Everybody was too fascinated with the dudes outside appearance to be cautious of it. The humanoid was cute, but it didn't mean he was that cuddly.

Slicer stepped forward, firmly moving Midori and all of his other staring teammates aside. He stared hard at the childlike thing, eyeing him with suspicion. "Alright, what business do you have here?"

The humanoid shrugged again. "Whatever business you want me to have here."

"Would you stop saying things like that?!" Slicer cried impatiently. "We don't have time for all this!! Our best friend just died and none of us are in the mood for your little games!"

"Your best friend just died?" The humanoid cocked it's head. "Is that your problem?"

The way the humanoid demon had said his last few sentences made Slicer and everyone else shudder inside. That emotionless stare with the huge eyes...that voice...it was just scary. It reminded the group of the childlike myth that dolls came to life at night.

The humanoid then made a tiny smile and did something that resembled a chuckle. "Maybe I can help you with that, your friend that died. ...Sayomi's her name, right? Or you had known her as Tarina?"

Everybody now stared in shock.

"Y-Yeah..." Omari quivered. "H-...how do you know that?"

"I've known Tarina for many years...and she's mentioned that she was friends with some of you." He said matter-of-factly.

Hikaru stepped forward, with a wildly feirce look on his face. "And w-what do you mean by, 'maybe I can help you'?! D-Do you think you can bring her back!?"

The humanoid smirked and shrugged. "I don't know, I thought you didn't believe I was the Master of Time."

Hikaru was struck speechless, as he hated to be hit by what he had previously said. He then put his hands on his hips in a tough manner. "Well...I still don't believe you! Prove yourself, then! And maybe we'll consider this 'help' that you're offering."

"Very well, then." The chamber demon cleared his throat. "Okay, let us start with this. When your group was entering the Avalanche Temple, remember when it seemed as if time fast forwarded and "the work was being done for you"? When the temple seemed to be coming at you, and then all of a sudden you ended up here?"

Omari's eyes widened. "Yeah...that was _you_?"

The Master of Time shrugged. "Maybe it was me. Whatever you believe."

Omari was stunned. So...someone had been on their side after all, and they didn't even know it. Not everyone in the Avalanche Temple was a devious murdering troublemaker. She was almost convinced that this thing only wanted to help, but then again...it could be a trap.

Hikaru wildly shook his head in an unconvinced manner, although he was shocked by this. "Nuh-uh. _No._ That doesn't give me enough proof. We need to see real _live_ proof that you can help us, so we know it's not just some stupid trick."

"Very well, then," the humanoid smiled as he raised his little doll-like hand and pointed at Hikaru directly. "I will now temporarily erase all of your memory of this day to prove that I'm the one who can control time. _Amnesia_!!"

Hikaru suddenly gasped and looked as if he was struck by lightning, purple streams of electrified chakra suddenly wrapped and squirming along his beat-up body. Everybody just stared, horrified. Hikaru then dropped to the ground, passed out.

"Hey!! Wh-what did you do!?" Zamu screamed at the chamber demon.

"When the child wakes up, he won't remember anything that happened today for at least a good five minutes. Don't worry, I didn't perform a major spell on him or anything. It was just a little demonstration."

Omari gulped. This thing was powerful and potentially dangerous. There was no way they could mess with him. He must have really been the Master of Time, or at least something close to it.

Midori gasped excitedly, totally disreguarding the fact that this weird being had knocked out one of their teammates with a simple point of the finger. "Ooh, I know what we can call you!! We can call you Tokei because it means 'clock'!"

The chamber demon blinked in a curious and thoughtful manner. "_Tokei?_ Hmm. Well, if that's what you wish to call me, then so be it."

Slicer sighed. This was getting nowhere. "Okay, Tokei, now can you please explain to us how to bring Tarina back?! Because we really need-"

"Waaaaait!" Omari cried, a look of anger on her face as she stared down at Tokei, hard. "How would a demonic humanoid claiming to be Master of Time bring back Tarina from the dead?! He would bring us back in time, of course!! And if he did that, then we would have to relive all of the crap that we went through in this stupid temple from before with the possibility that our changed actions wouldn't change a thing! It'll be the same risks and same old stunts, but what if it ends up turning out worse than what already previously happened?!"

Tokei once again cocked his head in a way in which a curious doll would. "Who said that I would take _all _of you back in time? I wouldn't necessarily have to do that. There are other options. Whatever you prefer." he said with a small smile in that light, echoey little voice of his. His whole body seemed to be glowing in some way. It was weird.

Everyone made a little nervous noise in their throats and looked at each other.

"However, there are some rules that I must abide to," Tokei continued, fixing the little box-shaped cap on his head and straightening out his robe. "In order to bring Tarina back, I'm going to have to have all of you in the time warping ceremony because all of you were involved in the situation to begin with and interacted with her in some way. If any of you aren't present in the process, then there's no way to bring her back."

Kamichi suddenly looked mad. "What?! So, you mean to say that every single person in this room has to be there?!"

"Yes."

"But we weren't even suppossed to be working with Tarina and Omari and all of them! They were the enemy and we weren't meant to be involved at all!" Kamichi yelled impatiently. "We were working against them, and now we have to help to bring her back?!"

"Yes, and the fact that you were their rival has nothing to do with you interacting with the people who interacted with her. You were part of the cause, and now you can't take back the causes of her death unless you're present." Tokei said strictly.

Kamichi stepped toward Tokei a little, enraged. "Why should me and my team listen to a creepy, dwarf puppet thing like you for a process that probably won't even work?!"

Tokei shrugged, not in the least bit intimidated by Kamichi's threatening stance. It made him look even more confident than before. "Well, if you don't trust me, then that's your problem. Without your help, Tarina will be gone for good. And I know you wouldn't like that, would you, Kamichi? Tarina used to be your good friend quite some time ago and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it if she knew that you were refusing to help her..." he said in a bribing tone, the smirk on his face getting even more devious.

Kamichi's eyes widened and he shuddered. How did this little freak know his name and about he and Tarina's childhood friendship?

Haku stepped forward with a quivering look in his eyes, worried that if nobody made sense of this and spoke up, then Tokei would just shrug it off and leave, considering his seemingly nonchalant exterior. "I-I'm sure everyone in the room is willing to help bring Tarina back. Right, everyone?" he turned to the rest of the group.

Almost all of the group nodded. Haku's brow wrinkled. Some he would have to force to cooperate. There was no way that any of them could go on peacefully without Tarina (even Kamichi), and they needed this to happen. Besides, what did they truly have to lose if it was a trick? Nothing, really, because everyone would be in this together.

Tokei smiled. "Alright, then it's settled. I'm assuming that I'm hired to help you out."

Haku twitched. _Hired. _Usually, when someone was hired for a job, they wanted something in return. Their pay.

Omari recognized this as well and sighed. "All right, but what's the catch?" she asked Tokei.

"The _catch?_" Tokei squinted with his right eye, apparently confused.

"Yes, what's the thing that will end up holding us back or making us regret our choice in the first place?" Omari asked plainly. The only reason why she had asked this so bluntly was because she was still suspicious. If Tokei was so good and helpful, then why was he locked up in an Avalanche Temple chamber in the first place?!

A sick feeling bubbled in her stomach at this thought.

Haku forced himself to laugh nervously, stammering, "Well, um, wh-what Omari meant by that was, what would you like in return for your help?"

Tokei chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you would ask that sooner or later, and I will tell you right now that there is a small price for bringing Tarina back."

Haku was so nervous and sweaty that he couldn't take the suspense. He wanted Tarina, and he wanted her back now. For Zabuza. For Hikaru. For Omari. Even for himself. The reality of her disappearance was just now kicking in for him. He reached inside his robe and pulled out a tied bag made of white silk that contained gold coins and held it out to Tokei. "Here, j-just take what you want. Will this cover it?"

Tokei took the bag and opened it up, peering at the golden coins inside. "What's this?"

Haku scratched his head. "They're...coins. Golden coins. They're valuable. Won't you take them?"

Tokei made a face that looked sort of stressed out as he handed the bag back to Haku. "My apologies, but I cannot accept something like this. I have no use for human money."

Haku started digging in his pocket for whatever diamonds or valuables that happened to be floating around in his pockets. Tokei just watched him with the same uneasy look on his face. Apparently, he did not like Haku's offerings.

Haku suddenly stopped searching himself for valuables and then looked down at Tokei's giant pocket watch that he was wearing as a necklace and looked a little apologetic. "Oooh...well...if it's platinum you're looking for, then I can-"

"No, please, that won't be necessary," Tokei said. "I don't want any money or material things from any of you, and it would be wrong of me to even accept a penny. What I want is something that money can't buy."

Omari raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "And what is this?"

Tokei did that little smile of his again, but in a slightly nicer way. "Your friendship."

_**...Meanwhile...**_

_Gaaah!! What the heck is happening!?_

_I can't see anything...I feel all blobby...there's no air...I can't move...I can't hear...my thoughts are scrambled..._

_That guy...that thing...he- he brought that sword down on my head and now I'm- I'm..._

_I never thought this would happen...I-I feel sad all of a sudden...my mind...it's clearing...I feel like crying but I can't...the feeling is just there and it won't come out...there's a lot of pressure on my body..wonder what it looks like..._

_My mind..._

_Wait...I have no mind...wait...I'm floating...dreaming...now...I'm remembering all the good times we had...it was fun while it lasted..._

_Omari...she was such a sweetheart...my best friend...I love her so much...Zabuza...I'll miss him so much...I can never see him again...I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with him...and Hikaru...my baby brother...I feel so bad...I shouldn't have turned against him like that..._

_Master Atoshi, Kamichi, Slicer, Zamu, Midori, Masakaru, Cyclone, everyone...Hirokazu was never all that bad, either...I was cruel. My father...nothing but a coward, yet I still find it in my heart to love him...wonder what happened to his soul...and my mom...I was just angry...although she had messed up big time...I somehow love her as much as I do everyone else..._

_So many amazing people...so many memories...yet so many unfinished things..._

_Wait, who are those people? I don't know them anymore...I don't know anything...I never did...I'm not existing...not..._

_I am nothing. I am a spiritless, hapless being in space...I...I am nothing...I'm..._

_**...Back in the Avalanche Temple...**_

"Our friendship!?" Omari cried, very incredulous.

"Yes, your friendship," Tokei said, face turning back to it's original emotionless form.

Haku blinked. Was the thing stupid? Or just desperate? There had to be a catch to this whole friendship thing... "Uhh..."

Tokei blinked. "What? I knocked out your friend so you won't be _my_ friend?" he asked, referring to Hikaru who was still unconscious.

Slicer sneered. "No, we like you knocking him out, but what we don't get is...why would you trade the hard work of bringing a spirit back to life in return for a simple 'okay, we'll be your buddy'?"

Tokei laughed. "A simple assurance of friendship isn't good enough. And if you do a good job, maybe I'll bring her back to a living human form."

Everyone gasped.

"Th-that's impossible!" Omari screamed accusingly. "Now I _know_ this is a scam! Stop messing with our heads; this isn't funny at all!"

Tokei shook his head. "No, it's really not a trick. It may be impossible for any of you mortals and ghosts to bring her back, but it's not for me. And maybe I can revive _you_ two as well." He then pointed to Haku and Zabuza, which made everyone else either gasp or look skeptical.

Haku thought about the life he had lost. There was benefits to his current state, but he had always loved being a human, now that he was free of being a tool. He sighed. "What's the price again?"

Tokei grinned. "Your friendship."

Omari shook her head, angry now. "Impossible and unbelievable. Nobody's power is that big and no being with that kind of power would expect something so small! We're not stupid."

Tokei sighed, muttering, _"You're obviously not that smart, either..."_

"What?!" Omari demanded, enraged and fed up with all of this, stepping forward.

Tokei held his hands out, looking stern now. "I'm not threatening you or being violent, so please don't do the be that way with me."

"Lookit, freako, we've been through so much pain and so much suffering that even I can't believe it!" Omari screeched, guesturing to her cut-up, torn-clothed body, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Go play around with someone else! We don't need more suffering! Enough's enough!"

Tokei cocked his head. "How can you not believe your own suffering? This situation is very real. Face it, Tarina's gone, and I'm your only hope."

"Nnnno! You're a liar!!" Omari screamed, and before Haku could grab and hold her back, she lunged for Tokei.

Tokei's big, glassy eyes suddenly grew wide and he held out a small hand with a short, bright-blue power beam coming out of it. Omari had slipped and fell on her backside as an accidental way of dodging the powerful attack as everyone else screamed and ran out of the way. The beam had hit the back wall and had scorched a large portion of it.

Everyone was now staring at Tokei with a new kind of fear, as Omari was on the ground halfway on her back, gasping, in complete shock.

Tokei's brow wrinkled in a truely apologetic manner. "I'm terribly sorry. Quick reflexes."

"Quick reflexes?!" Midori screamed. "You nearly killed her!!"

Tokei replied in a very nonchalant manner, as if this meant nothing of true significance. "Yes, I already knew that."

"Bu-but-!!" Midori started to stammer, enraged and befuddled by this. "That's our leader!"

Tokei smiled as he looked down at Omari, still gasping and staring as if she had seen a chamber beast. "Is it really? How interesting."

Everybody just stared, appalled.

"Wha-?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cyclone cried, which matched the thoughts of everyone else present in the room.

Tokei just looked at him. "I'm fine. Why, is there something on my face?" He then stepped toward Cyclone all of a sudden, interested. He reached out to touch his fur.

Cyclone shuddered at Tokei's touch. Tokei wasn't even petting him. Just randomyl touching the skin on his arms and belly.

"You are very pretty," Tokei smiled, who was about a foot and a half taller than Cyclone.

"Gaaaah!!" Cyclone looked disturbed as he backed away, wide-eyed. He hid behind Zamu's legs, peeking out at Tokei in a very frightened manner. "H-hey man, if you're looking for a date or something, I'm not avaliable!"

Tokei didn't react to this much. "Date? You mean as in romantic partner? Ohohoho, I was just complimenting your lovely coat of fur. Nothing more, nothing less. You're a pretty creature."

Cyclone was just staring, still freaked out. "Uh...thanks...?"

_Now I see the catch..._ Haku thought in an aggravated way as he helped Omari up and calm her down. _This being...obviously has some flaws of his own. His quirkiness causes him to be not well liked. His slightly creepy appearance, that strange voice, his reflexes, his motives...it drives people away. He only wants a friend, and that's it._

He looked over at everyone else to study their expressions, seeing if they perhaps were thinking the same thing. Tokei's favor was as simple as it sounded, but harder than most cases. Haku sighed and spoke in a low voice. "Guys...I think I know what he wants, and it's exactly as he said. But it's more of a challenge to see if we can withstand him or not."

Everyone just looked at him, understanding, but not saying anything. It was what it was.

Hikaru had suddenly became awake at that moment, looking around, wide-eyed. "Wha...where am I?! I don't even know half of you people! What's going on, and why does my body hurt? Wh-what happened, what did you guys do to me!?"

"Just ignore him, he'll be fine in a couple of minutes," Tokei said quietly to the others after a few seconds of stunned silence.

Haku turned back to Tokei, who was just standing there, staring with a neutral look on his face. Haku gulped. "Alright...reguardless of what some of us thinks, I'm going to speak for us all and say that we'll be your friend."

Tokei smiled. "Excellent. I've always wanted to meet and spend time with humans up close. I guaruntee the revival of your friend Tarina."

"Hold on a second..." Haku said, holding out his hand. "What are the requirements?"

"Three days," Tokei said.

"Huh?" Haku raised an eyebrow.

"I want to spend three days with you guys, preferably staying over at your hideouts, and you have to treat me like a friend and include me in everything. When those three days are over and our friendship is fully made, then we can perform the ritual." Tokei smiled.

Kamichi looked angry. "B-But we don't all live together!"

Tokei scratched his chin. "Hmm...true. Well, fine then. I can spend three days at each hideout that any of you belong to.

"Whaaaaat?!" Kiroku screamed at Kamichi. "We have to spend three days with this...this-"

Tokei wrinkled his brow. "Well, if you don't want to let me get to know you so we can perform the ritual, then I guess there's no Tarina for you."

Haku blinked. "Wait...it's a requirement?"

Tokei nodded. "Yes. I have to know each of you. I have to get to know the situation before I mess with time. How would I turn back time to a certain point without even knowing who and what was there?"

He had a point. Haku thought this over for a second. "So, three days at each of out hideouts? Like, you spend time at the Kingpin Kunais' hideout, then at Ryo's hideout, then at Kamichi's hideout, and then at Midori's hideout..." he paused for a second. "Wait...me and Zabuza...we don't have a hideout. There's no way something that isn't a ghost can stay where we live. Only Tarina knew how to perform the jutsu to let visitors come in."

Omari looked over at Haku. "That's fine. We'll just make the whole friendship process easier and shorter by you and Zabuza staying over at our hideout for a couple of days as well as Masami and Hirokazu and Katsumi. There'll be plenty of room. As a matter of fact, right now we'll all just head over to our hideout now."

Kamichi flinched. "_All _of us?" He honestly didn't want he and his group to go to Omari's hideout for some stupid meeting.

Omari turned around and looked at Kamichi with something stern in her eyes, yet spoke in a soft voice. It was the first interaction the two had ever had in a long time. "Yes, Kamichi, _all _of us."

Kamichi sighed.

"Hmm...sounds good," Tokei said, still smiling. "I'm sure we'll all have fun."

Everyone gulped.

"Alright, then." Tokei said, starting to turn towards the hallway and out of the scorched battling room. "We had all better get going. The rest of the workers here shouldn't give us a problem, and I know how to get us out of here fast."

Everyone else muttered their sheepish agreements as they started to follow the chamber demon out of the door.

Hikaru just sat there on the floor, still looking around cluelessly and in shock. "Wha-...?! Where's everybody going?! I don't know where I am, even! Someooooonee!"

Sighing, Slicer ran back and scooped up the very confused and discontent Hikaru (still suffering from amnesia) without warning, then rushed back out the door.

All of them wanted to get started as soon as possible.

_**...Please Go to the Next Chapter!!...**_

_**Heehehee. I know that chapter was a bit confusing and the same situation dragged on for a really long time, but it was suppossed to be a little confusing for the rest of the group and it was suppossed to give you a really good idea of who this Master of Time guy really was. Next chapter will be even more difficult, a plus for you because it's got a lighter mood and isn't so serious, but a minus for me because it'll be harder to write. :p Haha seeya! Make sure to leave some feedback!**_


	13. Warped!: 1: The Seven

_**...Warped: 1: The Seven..**_

Tokei quickly led the large, beaten up group to the outside of the Avalanche Temple, then suddenly reached out with his hands and fast forwarded to them arriving at the Kingpin Kunais' hideout.

Everybody was in awe as they had seen a blur of sand and desert, and then they had just appeared at their destination. It was amazing, yet made most of the group feel paranoid. How did Tokei know and remember where the Kingpin Kunais lived?

Tokei, Omari, and the others were then led into the backyard, where there was most space to fit everyone in and talk. As soon as the group of ninja had gotten in a large circle in the middle of the yard and sat down, Tokei stepped to the middle and smiled at everyone.

"You know, I really shouldn't be doing that," Tokei chuckled, referring to how he had fast forwarded time to get where they were now. "See how it's darker than usual at what you think it should be? We've wasted an extra two hours by saving the trip of walking."

Hikaru (who had long recovered from the anmesia attack) gasped, angry and appalled. "An extra two hours? What was the point of fast forwarding, then?"

Tokei shrugged. "I told you that my abilities was to change the flow of time and people's perspectives of time. Your perspective of time is now partially damaged because I saved you the energy of walking, as you never would have made it home. This is why I said I shouldn't be doing it. Because if I fast forward again, then you'd all lose your minds."

Everyone gulped. They wanted Tarina back as soon as possible, but that meant that they couldn't fast-forward anything to save them work, because it certainly didn't save any time.

"Perspective?!" Haku cried. "Perspective doesn't have to do with the real thing! So you're saying none of us know what time it is now?"

Tokei shook his head. "Nope. Even your watches are off-balance now. To be honest, I'm the only being on this planet who has a true mathematical perspective of real and spiritual time, but that would really mess you guys up if I got into that."

"Well thanks a lot, Master!" Hikaru yelled. "We never asked for you to fast forward us home in the first place! Now everything is gonna be screwed up!"

Tokei laughed. "Not necessarily. See, everyone, the time flow right now doesn't matter anymore as long as we don't go past the boundaries too much besides for bringing Tarina back to her human state. Because by the time that happens, everything will most likely be screwed up anyway."

Everybody just stared at him. Nobody had been expecting that.

"Ooh, well that was a great reassurance," Haku snapped sarcastically. "Why would we want everything and everyone in the world to be screwed up if we brought back Tarina? What good would it do if things turned out weird?"

Tokei shrugged. "I don't know, Haku, you tell me. It is up to you guys, after all."

Haku sighed.

"On the actual mission of the warping and getting Tarina (I'll give you specific instructions later), there can only be seven on this mission." Tokei said formally. "Until then, these seven would have nine days to train as this is how many days I will be spending with you all. So, I suggest that you choose these five or I shall do it for you."

Everyone uneasily glanced at each other. There were so many possible mistakes that could be made in choosing...they only needed the best of the best to travel back and forth in time. Nobody knew who to speak for who at this point. It was just utter confusion. Everyone wanted to go but didn't at the same time.

"I must inform you, it is a very dangerous journey," Tokei said. "It's aggravating, not to mention that I am unable to come with you. You may see some of the things you have seen before and it will be heartbreaking. And I must admit it's pretty hard to choose from all rogue ninja, all who most likely have difficult pasts. But, I'd say I have a pretty good idea of who should do what."

"Yeah, I...I think it would be best if _you_ chose the mission team," Omari said quietly, as everyone silently agreed.

"Alright, then." Tokei said with an excited smile. "Ooh, I just love these sort of things. But, honestly, I had the team picked out when we first met. It'll be not the ones who are the strongest, but the ones who are most suitable for time-travel, although the results of this are predictable."

The large group just glanced at one another, a little nervous but looking determined.

"Okay. Haku, you're captain of the time warping squad."

"What?!" Haku cried, skeptical. Although everyone else had been expecting this, he most certainly hadn't been. "I'm not fit to- I can't...it's just not...but why?!"

"Haku, you and I are alike in many ways that you may not know of, other than the fact that others would normally mistake us to be of the female gender," Tokei giggled, which caused an embarassed groan to come from Haku. "Your intentions are good but you're misunderstood. You're driven by another individual's needs and hard-working. You would get the job done efficiently and I just think a strong person like you would make a good leader."

Haku scratched his head. "I'm not really all that strong..."

Tokei sighed. "Haku, tell me the last time you let out your full fighting potential."

Haku blinked. "Uh..."

"Exactly," Tokei said harshly before Haku even had time to think the question over. "In my mental records, you have never tried your hardest or reached your limit, the Great Naruto Bridge being an exception as you clearly wasted your energy trying to play nice with those Hidden Leaf kids. You were always too soft and polite and kind, and even then, you were an amazing warrior. Now think about what you can do when you have nothing holding you back!"

Haku shrugged. "I still don't see anything special."

Tokei just looked at him sternly. "There _is_ something special, Haku. You are a truly amazing, angelic child at heart and that's powerful, believe it or not. There's a lot of things special about you."

Haku was touched, but slightly weirded out by little Tokei's strong words at the same time. "A-alright. I'll do it."

Tokei's face suddenly brightened up again. "Good. Now we can move on. Now, as I was saying, Haku will be captain, and Kamichi (interesting name, by the way), you'll be co-captain."

Haku blinked and looked over at Kamichi. He knew what was coming.

"Oh, uh-uh! NO!" Kamichi said, resenting the fact that he had to be a part of this and working so closely with Haku. He didn't want to hurt Haku's feelings by being like this, but right now he didn't care. "I can't-...but...we're not-"

"Yes you are," Tokei said with a scary glare before Kamichi could even get his sentence out. "I don't like your attitude, child. A few years ago, you'd jump at the chance to help Tarina and everyone else out. Now, you can't even clean up after yourself for being part of the cause for Tarina's obliteration? Pathetic."

Kamichi growled. "I just don't want to go! It's weird and...I...I'm not that strong, either!"

Tokei almost laughed at that excuse. "Please. Don't play dumb. It upsets me. Your true physical strength is almost as powerful as a superhuman's like Tarina. You may among the strongest humans in the world and you know that. And you should be honored to work with Haku." What he was saying was true. For a normal person without a Sharingan or a Hyoton or any special demon or tricks, Kamichi was one heck of a fighter.

Kamichi sighed. "You know what? Fine. I'll do it. I'll help Tarina get back to life and everything, but when I'm not doing anything else for anyone, got it?"

"Fine by me." Tokei shrugged. Then he turned to Omari. "Omari, I was going to suggest you be on the squad because of your incredible powers and relations with Tarina, but I simply can't." 

Omari's brow wrinkled. She had been wanting to go and help her friend. "B-But why?"

Tokei cocked his head. "Are you delusional?"

"Huh?!"

"Look at yourself, hun. You're a total wreck." Tokei said in an apologetic tone. "I just think all of this stress and fighting is too much for a young girl like yourself. If you go on this mission, I'm afraid it'll simply kill you one way or another. I really think you need to rest and take care of the ones who are not going on the mission. I'd also like to take care of you myself. Is that okay with you?"

Omari shuddered when she heard Tokei say, "it'll simply kill you one way or another". She thought about this for a moment. Would she collapse under her own stress and emotional weakness and simply die if she went back in time and fought for Tarina?

Tokei cleared his throat, trying not to let Omari daydream. "Omari. Is that okay with you?"

Omari then pictured Zamu in her head from a while ago, telling her that she definately needed a bit of rest after the big mission. She sighed and looked back up at the small yet ancient chamber demon. Even her teammates noticed her being tired and upset these days. "Yes, I understand. It's fine."

"Good, thanks for understanding." Tokei gave a sweet, warmhearted smile that sort of reminded Omari of Haku's.

She instantly sighed again at the thought, looking at Haku, who was just sitting there twiddling his thumbs. She had missed Haku so much. That's what had gotten her down when they had been planning the Rainbow Boulder mission on his birthday...but him actually being there didn't seem to make anything better. She wanted to just grab and cuddle Haku. Not kiss or be romantic, but just cuddle. Haku had a way of just making someone feel comfortable and safe. Maybe that was what she missed instead of having him as a boyfriend. His protection and loving friendship.

Haku suddenly put his head up and caught Omari staring at him, looking a little embarassed and confused. Omari just smiled to herself and forced herself to look away. Something about Haku also made her laugh. His awkwardness and general attitude was just humorous to her, and it had always kept her upbeat, even when he was just a friend.

She was just so confused...

"Okay, so that settles it. The warping mission team will be Haku, Kamichi, Midori, Zabuza, Hikaru, and Hirokazu." Tokei said with finality. "As for the rest of you- I'll need special help from every individual who will stay here."

Omari shook herself out of the trance she had been in. She had been too busy thinking instead of paying attention to who was being chosen and the reasoning for each one of the Tarina search party. Hirokazu and Midori? Was this guy nuts, or did he just make a mistake?

She looked over at Hikaru, who had a very angry look on his face. Apparently, he was mad that Hirokazu was chosen to work with him on the mission, too.

She then looked over at Hirokazu, who was sitting there with a very nervous look on his dirty, bloody face. He was probably still in partial shock and had no clue why he was being chosen, as he had no ninja abilities. The only way Omari could tell the two apart was the expressions on their faces, knowing that Hikaru would never make a scared-little-girl face like his twin brother was sporting.

"And no, I did not make any mistakes in choosing this," Tokei said, looking over at Omari with a smirky face.

Omari shivered. She didn't like Tokei being inside everyone's head like that. And if he could get inside her mind, he definately knew some things that she didn't, because sometimes even she didn't know what was going on inside of her head.

"Hold the phone," Slicer said with a skeptical face. "I thought you said there was suppossed to be seven chosen instead of six, and you said you weren't going."

"Ah," Tokei clapped his hands together. "This is where it gets interesting. I actually know someone who is going to help the four out on this dangerous mission. I sent him a mind-signal message about it on our way home to come help. He's pretty efficient when it comes to time travel, I've met him a few times but I don't really know him that well. Probably someone you all wouldn't know, but he's from the western side of the Hidden Mist village."

This got everyone's attention.

"Who is the guy?" Kamichi asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tokei shrugged. "I don't remember his name."

"Whaaat? This is rediculous!" Zabuza grumbled. "We have to go on a mission with some random guy you mention who is into time travel? I don't think so."

Tokei laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get to meet him. In fact, he'll be here shortly. I told him where we were and the whole situation, and he said he's quite excited to go."

Everyone exchanged uneasy looks. _Another _new person? This was getting to be too weird.

"Um, excuse me, Mister Tokei..." Masami spoke up with a meek, nervous look on her face. "But I'm not too comfortable with Hirokazu going on the trip to save Tarina..."

"Fine by me," Hikaru snapped angrily. "He can stay if he wants to. I'm not working with his sorry, weak little butt on this trip anyway."

Hirokazu sniffled.

"Hikaru," Tokei shot Hikaru a look, "that isn't very nice."

"Sooo?!" Hikaru cried, jabbing a finger at Masami and Hirokazu. "These two make me sick! Uugh! I can't believe I'm even related to these- these creeps!! Look how they cuddle when they're nervous! They probably make out when they're really scared!"

Slicer glared at Hikaru as both Masami and Hirokazu looked very upset.

Tokei sighed. "Hikaru, that was very uncalled for."

Hikaru shrugged. "Hey, I call them as I see them."

Haku snorted, putting a hand to his mouth to keep from giggling. He hated to find Hikaru's immature attitude and inappropriate insults so funny, but he honestly couldn't help himself. "You know- heh...oh, my goodness. I-I'm sorry, I really have to use the bathroom..." he said as he got up and ran to the hideout to laugh himself out.

Omari just shook her head and sighed as she watched the smiling Haku leave, as everyone else did. "...This is gonna be reeeaaally hard."

Cyclone glared at everyone, obviously fed up with the whole situation. "Okay, so lemme get this straight. We're sending off seven people to go get Tarina, who is suppossed to be dead. Gone forever. So we send off a random dude we don't know, some giggly, girly angelface, a grumpy swordkisser, a traitor with anger problems, a complete _goon_ with anger problems, a crybaby momma's boy, and...whatever disgusting kissy thing that Midori is. Really genius plan, you know?"

Wow, Cyclone really knew how to break out the insults if needed.

Slicer had started to laugh uncontrollably the second it was said, but Zamu hit his arm. Everyone else just looked stunned and angry at the same time.

Tokei was definately not pleased. "Yes, Shadow Slave, that's who we are sending."

"My name is Cyclone," Cyclone whined. "And what I'm saying is true. Do we honestly think we can do this with the group we're with now? You have to admit we all have major issues and things already in our way, and it's a slim chance even all of us together would pull it off. Now you're trying to send us _back in time, _where all of our problems started? It's just impossible!"

Tokei walked up to Cyclone and smiled, affectionately ruffling the fur on his head. "Now, cute one, what's the harm in trying?"

"The harm?! You can get us all killed!" Cyclone screamed. "And don't call me cute! I can be a ferocious warrior when I wanna be!"

Tokei nodded as he continued to pet Cyclone in a slow and creepy manner, who knew that it wouldn't help to pull away or to tell him to stop. "Oh, I know that. You are a very strong little creature. One that is needed right here, right now to help bring your friend back, okay? I have faith in you. I have absolute faith in all of you."

Omari definately needed a break from all of this talk about the mission. She put her hand up to her sweating, pounding forehead and cleared her throat. She needed to go to the bathroom. What was taking Haku so long? She didn't care. She needed to go now. "Uh...I'll be right back...a little emergency..." she announced awkwardly as she stood and ran to the hideout.

When she entered, she looked to find Haku sitting at the kitchen table, head down. She instantly started to fret, afraid that he was crying or something. If he was, she didn't know what to do. "Uh...Haku...?"

Haku sat up with a disgruntled look on his face. He wasn't quite crying, but looked close to it. "Ooh...Omari...I'm sorry, I..."

"...Just needed a break?"

"Yeah...I was getting a little delusional back there. It's just nerve-wracking, you know? The whole situation...everyone's still in shock about the whole Tarina thing..." Haku droned exaustedly as Omari went in the fridge to pour both of them some iced tea.

Omari sat down with the drinks, then looked over at Haku, her expression mirroring his. "I know. And I...I just really feel bad for Hikaru...I-I can't imagine what's going through his head right now."

"He's a tough kid," Haku said in a fake-happy tone. "I'm sure he won't do anything stupid this time. I can definately tell Hikaru's determined to get her back, too. Not to mention Zabuza...I think we might be able to get the job done if Kamichi cooperates and Hirokazu toughens up a little and Midori...stops being so..._Midori_...and...oh, who am I kidding...?" Haku moaned, buring his face in his hands.

Omari sighed.

"I can never lead a group like you can, Omari," Haku said. "Never. And that's the truth. You should have been chosen...but you do need your rest, so..."

"Maybe we shouldn't think about it for now," Omari suggested quietly, half-shrugging. "We do have a couple days to just train and relax with Tokei and everything, you know? We've got a little time, so we might as well enjoy this and our new company."

Haku just looked at her for a moment, then shrugged too. "Yeah, maybe you're right." He then just sat there, picking at his own fingers for a moment, then looked back at Omari. "So, uh...how've you been?"

Omari shook her head as she automatically started to cry. "Horrible..."

Haku's eyes turned from forcibly casual to soft and sympathetic. He instantly wished he hadn't asked that question. "Oh, Omari...I'm so sorry you felt that way..."

Omari started to sob even harder. "Everything s-started screwing up...s-since you and Zabuza and Tarina all died near the same t-time...a-and..."

Haku didn't know what to say or what to do at this point. Maybe it was just best to let her cry for a minute. After all, she probably didn't even feel comfortable crying around anyone else anymore besides for Tarina and himself. After all of that time of hard working, stress, and holding in her feelings...

After a few moments, Omari finally started to recover, wiping away her tears and looking at the now teary-eyed Haku apologetically. "I-I'm sorry, Haku, if I'm making you upset..."

Haku wiped his eyes and sniffled. He seemed to be able to recover from crying a lot faster and better than Omari could. "No, I'm fine. It's not because of you at all. I guess you could say I've been pretty stressed, too, lately."

Omari stood, then as soon as she was about to ask Haku something, she stopped and almost laughed at herself.

Haku stood, too, giving a soft smile. "You need a hug?"

"I...yeah..." Omari said, starting to tear up all over again as she went into Haku's arms. Haku was so sweet, she wanted to just squeeze him to bits, but that sort of thing between the two just wouldn't seem appropriate anymore.

They had never had any time to be romantic around each other on Earth, anyway. Haku had been dead and told her he loved her in a dream.

After a few moments of hugging, they let go with Omari looking slightly relaxed and sniffly, and Haku looking very uneasy and mournful. Almost...guilty.

Omari knew that look. She sighed heavily. "Haku..."

"Yeah?"

"You know that I'll always love you as a friend," Omari said in an assuring voice as he simply looked away. "A best friend. Even if we're not...you know, I'll always still care about you no matter what." she said.

Haku shrugged. "I know, and I'll always still care about you." A heavy feeling in his heart remained as he said this. What if the time travel thing was successful and he did become a human again along with Zabuza and Tarina? Things would definately be weird between the two of them...they wouldn't be best friends anymore now that Hikaru was around, and that was inevitable.

Haku then just stared at Omari for a moment, reaching out and gently touching her face without much thought to it. He quickly pulled away, looking apologetic and smiling weakly. "Oh! I'm sorry..."

Omari snapped out of it, too. "Yeah, me, too. Uh...we...we should really get back outside."

"Yes, we should."

"Well, I had to use the bathroom anyway," Omari said halfheartedly, scratching her head. "So, you can go out first and then tell everyone I'll be out in a minute."

"Sure, Omari." Haku replied, trying his best to give her an optimistic smile as he went out the door and back to where the group was gathered. It was getting dark out, so they had set up a small fire.

Everyone turned to see Haku returning.

"Is Omari okay?" Tokei asked with concern.

"I don't think she feels very good," Haku said honestly. "But I passed her, she said she'd be back out in a few minutes."

Tokei sighed as he watched Haku sit back down in his place. _That boy has love in his eyes...I can also feel it, from the rythym of that angelic heart. But for some reason, it seems wrong to him. I wonder if...?_

Midori, obviously seeing the pinkish guilty-crush waves coming from Haku, just blinked in confusion, not really capable of figuring it out herself.

"Aww, she doesn't? Is she throwing up?" Zamu asked Haku with worry in his voice.

Haku shrugged. "I think she was just a little too stressed out and needed a little break, is all." he said.

"Alright, then." Tokei nodded. "Because I really want her to be out here when our other new friend comes who will be helping the six that go on the trip."

"Yeah, about this guy..." Masakaru said uneasily. "Does he know Tarina in any way?"

"Yes, he fought Tarina in a public competition quite a while back," Tokei said.

"Oh, yeah, the Hidden Mist Tournament that comes up every five years?" Slicer asked with interest. "That's coming up soon, you know. Hopefully all of this mess will be done and over with before it gets here. Maybe it'll finally be our turn for our squads to participate again."

The Hidden Mist Tournament wasn't a tournament for all ninja in the land. It was only for rogue ninja from each side of the village (north, south, east, west) to compete against each other. Of course, the winner would get a prize and the "side" they were on would hold the title of having the toughest people on their territory.

Of course, since only a select few of squads got chosen each year to participate and represent their part of the village every five years, none of the shinobi present had ever went to fight in the competition except for Slicer and Zamu, which was quite a long time ago.

"Yeah, hopefully. So, if he was matched up with Tarina and fought with her...he must be at least around the same age as her, right?" Masakaru asked Tokei.

Tokei shook his head. "Actually, he's still in a child's state of mind and body. He's timeless, just like I am." 

Everyone gasped.

"How long has he been around?" Zamu asked.

Tokei shrugged. "Probably ever since the last time I had waken up...which was about 90 years ago. To save his life, I remember giving him a potion to keep him from harm when he was getting attacked on that one fateful day, and it ended up slowing down his aging process by at least one thousand times."

Before anybody could respond or ask any more questions, there was suddenly a huge, multicolored puff of smoke that exploded right near the bonfire, causing everyone but Tokei to jump.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed four small shinobi kids, all of which would look to be about 10 to 12 years old. At this point, Omari had ran back outside and sat down quickly, although quite wary of these new appearances.

Tokei smiled. "Why, hello. I'm guessing this is the squad that has the one who is going on the time warping mission."

Slicer looked around, slightly aggravated by this new arrival of such small kids. "I thought there was only one that was suppossed to arrive."

The purple-haired leader stepped forward and grinned. "Well, before we sent our friend off on this crazy mission, we wanted to check you guys out first." he then stepped over to where Omari was and was mainly focused on her forehead. "Wow! You guys are really the Kingpin Kunais?!"

"Uh...y-yes, some of us are are," Omari said meekly as she fixed her bandanna subconciously.

"Hey," Slicer waved his hands at the leader of the kid's group from behind. "Are you going to introduce yourselves before you introduce us, or what...?"

"Oh! Right!" The kid laughed as he faced the entire group along with the rest of his squad. "We're Squad 300, nice to meet you all."

"Cute little kid," Midori whispered to Masakaru, who was sitting next to her, looking like he was in shock. "He sort of reminds me of you...just something about those eyes and that spiky purple hair..."

"Raidon!!" Masakaru yelled out, eyes boggling. "Wha- where have you...? I..."

The kid named Raidon (looking just like Masakaru, only smaller, more ambitious-looking, and with an old scar across his face) turned and looked over at Masakaru, just smiling regularly and raising an eyebrow. "Oh, hey. It's been a while, hasn't it, big brother?"

"You-!!" Masakaru said in a grunting voice, still shocked. "A little while!? It's been over five years since I've last seen you! You ran away from home, remember?! Where the heck have you been?!"

Raidon adjusted his Hidden Mist headband and kept grinning. "Just on the other side of the village, really. I haven't come around these parts in a while. Hee hee, you're so lucky you get to hang out with the Kingpin Kunais! Wish I had known what you were up to before!"

"Wait, so...this kid is your little brother?" Slicer asked, turning to Masakaru.

Masakaru sighed at Raidon's nonchalant attitude and Slicer's clueless questionings. He rested his chin on a palm. "Yes, unfortunately."

"You wouldn't happen to be the one that we're warping with, would you?" Midori asked Raidon curiously.

"Huh? Of course not! Let me introduce the rest of my squad." Raidon laughed as he cleared his throat.

"Okay, well, this right here is Taji. He joined about a year ago." Raidon guestured to a rather tiny boy with short blonde hair. Taji was dressed in shaggy, aged training clothes and he wore a plain red bandanna that was turned backwards, with his shinobi headband wrapped around his waist. A stylish, cute-looking kid, but he looked to be the mischevious kind who was a little too strong for his own good and was a little rough.

"Hey, guys," Taji waved casually and gave a little smile to the whole group.

Raidon then went to another kid, who was the smallest of the group by far. He had shaggy, light brown hair topped off with a box-shaped hat like Tokeo's but it covered the whole top of his head. He dressed in a cute blue outfit that matched the hat yet sort of made him look like a toddler. His eyes were quite big and his cheeks definately looked squeezable.

"This is Yumiko," Raidon said as he patted the tiny toddler-ish kid on the shoulder. "He's been with us for quite a while now."

Haku cocked his head, interested. "Yumiko?" he then turned to Zabuza. "Hey, doesn't that name ring a bell? Yumiko..."

"Nah," Zabuza said simply. "I don't think I've ever met another Yumiko..."

Haku then snapped his fingers, realizing something and smiling at Yumiko. "Hey, now I remember you! That at-home mission Gato had put us up to! I wouldn't expect you to remmeber this, but Zabuza and I babysat you a few years back when you weren't even a year old."

Yumiko shrugged and dug something out of his nose with a tiny finger. "Uhhhh...okay." his voice was small and nasally, but everyone got the feeling he was a bit older than he looked and acted.

Haku sighed, mumbling to himself. "Hrm. Well, it seems as though not much has changed since then..."

Raidon finally went to the last kid, a bored-looking boy who looked to be about twelve years old. He was dressed pretty formally for a ninja, his Hidden Mist headband (which had no scratches on it whatsoever) correctly tied around his forehead. He had bright blue eyes but very dark hair that somewhat spiked and curled off to the right side. A good-looking kid, but seeming to be troubled by something as he looked into space.

Raidon pointed to the spaced-out kid and said, "This is the guy you'll be going on the mission with. His name's Jiro."

Jiro snapped out of his trance and weakly waved at the group. "Oh, hello. I'm certainly looking forward to our mission together." He said, although it sure didn't seem like it.

After the introduction was finally over with, everyone else just stared at the group of four with interest. It was a very cute group of little kids, but there was an energy about them as a whole that automatically made them lethal.

Tokei stepped forward to the group and shook everyone's hand (although he sort of half-shook Yumiko's left hand because he didn't really want boogers on him). "It is really nice to meet you all finally. And hello again, Jiro."

"Hello, Master," Jiro replied to Tokei, bowing to him. Jiro still sounded like a young kid (not to mention his appearance) despite his old age, but spoke in a very intelligent voice. He was still a kid, technically, because it only slowed down the process and his true age or number of years alive really didn't matter because of that.

Right then, Tokei decided to recap what everyone had just been over and the basic outlines of what they had to do on the mission in about five minutes.

"Well, it sure sounds good to me," Raidon said with a huge grin, then lightly nudged the very bored-looking Jiro. "I definately think you should go with them!"

"Sure...it sounds interesting..." Jiro shrugged.

His aloof, troubled attitude kind of unnerved Haku in a slightly annoyed way. He was suppossed to work with this guy? It was just so weird being with someone so bored, so casual, so spaced-out and reluctant-looking to everything. Haku worked better with people he already knew.

Jiro noticed Haku giving him a sort of worried look and simply stared back. Of course, Haku was the first to quickly look away, since it was just his nature to do so first. Jiro wrinkled his brow and kept staring, however, probably trying to figure the young angel out.

Haku sensed that he was being looked at with concern and wonder, and shuddered. It didn't make him feel too comfortable when people gave him that look. It was the critical eye. He just sat there, shyly twiddling his thumbs. Usually, he was more assertive, but for some reason, in this particular situation, he felt as meek and as closed up as one of his rabbits.

"Okay! Well, I'm sure we've all had quite a tiring weekend," Tokei said with a smile as almost everyone who had gone on the mission groaned, suddenly remembering how tired and sore they all were. Everyone had just adapted to the feeling of being hurt, but now that Tokei had brought it up, it was suddenly really painful. "We should all be getting to bed soon."

"Wait, so, about the whole you staying over thing..." Omari looked confused. "How are we going to go about doing this?"

Tokei shrugged, smiling smugly. "I don't know. I shouldn't, I'm your guest and new friend, right?"

Omari sighed. This was going to be some very annoying three days. "...Right. Well, okay, Haku, Zabuza, you know where to go. Tokei, we have another guest room, but you may stay wherever you like." she then turned to the rest of the group. "And you guys...you should be getting home and to bed soon, too. We'll keep in touch for now, but...it's been a long and hard few days. I think we all need a little break."

Everyone just looked at each other and quietly agreed as they all stood, while Haku, Zabuza, Tokei, Katsumi, Hirokazu, Masami and Raidon's group stuck around.

Omari accepted a hug from just about everyone as they quietly passed by, each thinking over what Tokei had told them to do and what they were going to accomplish with this Tarina mission. When it was Kamichi's turn to pass and leave the yard, he suddenly stopped, glaring at Omari, arms crossed.

Omari just looked at him.

"I can't believe I got dragged into this," Kamichi said angrily. "It's your fault, you know."

Omari sighed. "Kamichi...I'm sorry everything ended up like this, but you were just as much of a part as I was."

"But-"

"No. I don't feel like arguing with you, okay? You just don't understand how much I really care about you, do you? I loved you since- no, actually, _before_- you joined the Kingpin Kunais, and I still love you now. What makes you think I would go through all of this trouble to hurt you just so everyone could pin it on me in the end?" Omari said back a little stricter than she had intended.

Kamichi looked stunned and a little clueless for a second, but then snapped out of it again. "Yeah, well...whatever. That creepy Tokei thing is sleeping in a cage in the basement when it's our turn to get him." he grumbled as he stormed away.

Tokei chuckled as he stood next to Omari. "Don't worry, he'll come around eventually. Although, I hope he does soon enough...I really don't want to sleep in a cage..."

Midori then stopped in front of Omari as she and her team were packed and ready to go, too. Something in her eyes made her look slightly wiser and more literate than before. She looked different. "Uh...Omari...I know the mission didn't turn out exactly as planned, but...I really want to thank you for the opportunity to go with you."

Omari gave the younger girl a weak smile as she pulled her into a slight hug. "Oh, you're welcome."

"A-And I'll do my best to take care of Tokei when it's our time for him to come...and I'll do my best on the mission! I'm gonna help get Tarina back, too!"

"Of course," Omari said with a lot of false hope in her voice. "I know you'll be great."

"Seriously, get some rest, Omari," Masakaru said with concern as he walked up as well after talking to Raidon. "Don't push yourself like you did today. Everything will be fine. Tokei and this Jiro kid seem to know what they're doing, so don't stress."

Omari merely nodded. "Yeah."

"I mean it," Masakaru wrinkled his brow. He seemed to be more caring for Omari than she had thought. "I want you to rest, you're going to end up killing yourself if this keeps up. Promise me that you'll take a break. A lot of us are capable for taking care of ourselves, and you're overwhelming yourself with everyone elses problems, so please...just promise."

Omari sighed. "Okay. I...I promise. I'll get some rest." she finally said in a truthful tone.

"Good," Masakaru nodded, looking a little easier now. He then turned to the rest of the group. "We should get going and get some rest, too."

"Right," Midori nodded, as she waved to Omari like everyone else. "Bye, guys!"

Tokei did a strange guesture with his hand that somewhat resembled a wave. "Goodbye. And Midori, please make sure to train once you're finished resting, but don't push yourself too hard."

"Got it!" Midori yelled back as she and the rest of her team poofed away.

Tokei then turned back to Omari with a curious look once they were gone. "I've always wondered how humans could stand only sleeping at night for such a short amount of time."

Omari shrugged. "It's the way a lot of us humans grow up. Nighttime is just generally the time for sleep, while the daytime is for work and daily activities needed to carry out. I don't know how that ended up, but it's just how it is now."

"Hmm," Tokei hummed thoughtfully, scratching his chin and starting to silently ponder on it by himself.

Omari just blinked at the quirky little creature and then looked back at the remaining group, who were still all huddled up by the fire. It was only Omari, Tokei Slicer, Zamu, Haku, Zabuza, Katsumi, Masami, Hirokazu, Cyclone, and Raidon's group now. It was still a large cluster of people, but it was slightly quieter and less intense with the other individual squads gone.

"So," Omari sighed. "Who is staying, and who is going?"

Raidon smiled. "We were wondering if we could stick around the area for a while. Not in the hideout, because none of us usually sleep much. We just want to train around here until the mission comes around so we can send Jiro off."

Omari shrugged. "Sure, if you want to train around here, that's perfectly okay...but don't you need to stay in a house somewhere?"

Raidon laughed. "No, not really. Houses aren't for us," he said, referring to themselves as if his team were a bunch of undomesticated cats. "We like to sleep and stick around in the forest area."

Everyone else was a little weirded out by this statement, but hey, it was their lifestyle. Maybe, on the western side of the Hidden Mist where they usually lived, the rogue ninja liked to sleep under the stars and in the forest. Omari just nodded. "Well, okay, fine by us."

Raidon turned and gave the rest of his team an even more excited smile. "Hey, she said it was okay! C'mon, let's go build a treehouse tent!" he said as he jumped up and rushed away into the nearby forest (just beyond the backyard) along with Yumiko and Taji. "See you in the morning, guys!"

Jiro stayed behind, silent. He just sat on a log, staring at the fire, sighing.

Everyone decided to just leave him alone for a bit to think things over as Omari then turned to Masami, Hirokazu, and Katsumi. "I know you guys need a place to stay for a while, so we're allowing you to stay with us. There's enough room." Omari said. And what she was saying was true. The Kingpin Kuanis hideout/workbase was huge considering all of the underground compartments and rooms in it.

"Okay, thanks." Katsumi sighed, relieved she didn't have to stay out in the cold or with that squad of weird little boys in the trees.

Masami weakly smiled. "Thank you so much, Omari."

Hirokazu just shivered as Hikaru shot him yet another horribly nasty glare.

"Well, we had all better get inside and get ready for bed..." Omari sighed, her arms tightly crossed. "It's getting cold outside."

"Yes, we should," Tokei smiled optimistically as Omari led them all into the house. "This should be fun!"

_**...To The Next Chapter!!...**_

_**Yeah, I know it was long, but I thought it was cool.**_

_**But something on my mind lately: People have been asking me personal questions about some of the characters, like if they have any mental conditions (lol), whose fat, or stupid stuff like that. But the main question is about some of theirs sexual orientation.**_

_**Now, I don't know why this matters to you all, but to answer everybody's dumb questions, I DID design each character differently and yes, some of them are made to have specifically different orientations or gender identities. Most questions like this have been about Zamu, Slicer, and Tarina.**_

_**Just...c'mon, you guys. / Try to figure this out yourself. There is at least one yaoi/yuri couple, and I'm not saying who because it's not clear in the story, I don't like to spoil stuff and tell you dumb things, and it only has subconciously proved itself througout this segment and the First Impression. And no, it ain't Haku and Zabuza. I honestly don't like that pairing because Zabuza's a little too old.**_

_**Okay? Okay. :3 Read on!**_


	14. Warped!: 2: Tolerance

_**...The Second Impression: Tolerance...**_

_**...Tokei's Friendly Visit: Day 1...**_

Everyone who was going to stay was now inside of the Kingpin Kuanis hideout, either getting ready for bed or just quietly pondering over what had happened to them in the past few days. All in all, it was a pretty peaceful night, but everybody already knew that they would have trouble sleeping.

Hikaru was the first to try and hit the sack, with a grumpy and tired look on his face. He had just taken a shower and shoved past poor, shy, frightened Hirokazu many times along the way of getting ready for bed. Cyclone had followed him.

Hikaru sighed as he shut off his room's larger light and turned on the small plug-in nightlight beside him, then crawled into bed. Cyclone crawled in after him.

Hikaru sat up with a disgusted and angry look on his face as he pushed the small creature away from him and off his bed. "Eww, what are you doing? Get in your own bed."

Cyclone quivered, and Hikaru's eyes instantly softened as he saw the shadow creature's frightened eyes fill up with tears. "I...I thought maybe...I dunno...I was just scared of having nightmares, so I thought maybe I...could stay close with you..."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. Well, Cyclone _was _technically his pet and pets got lonely and longed for their owners sometimes. He knew he wouldn't get the poor little pest to stop crying if he didn't let him sleep in the bed, anyway. "Alriiight, alright, I'll let you stay in the bed so you can stop sniffling. But just for tonight, got that?"

Cyclone nodded quickly and gratefully as he scrambled onto the large mattress with Hikaru.

Hikaru sighed as the furry little shadow tried to snuggle him affectionately, probably overwhelmingly relieved that his master had stayed safe and alive throughout this entire impossible mission. "I love you, Your Highness..."

Hikaru sighed again and scooted Cyclone's tiny body to the other side of the bed with one hand. "Yeah, yeah, don't get all mushy. Just stay on your own side of the bed, alright? There's plenty of room, so no need to squish all up against me."

"Yes, Sir..."

A few minutes later, here was a small knock at the door that had ended up startling both Hikaru and Cyclone, who were finally starting to doze off. Hikaru sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Urgh...what do you want?" he grumped loudly at the door.

The door slowly swung open and Tokei nervously popped his head in, his bright white hair slightly glistening in the darkness. "Uh...hello..."

Cyclone wrinkled his brow.

Hikaru looked extremely annoyed. "Okay, what do you want?"

Tokei fully stepped inside and started twiddling his thumbs. "Well...I...was just wondering...if I could sleep in your room..."

Cyclone groaned. "Why us?"

"Because...I'd really rather not sleep by myself when it's my first night here...and I feel somewhat uncomfortable asking anybody else." Tokei said carefully.

Cyclone looked even more aggravated and was about to shoot something mean back, but Hikaru quickly used a hand to muffle him. Hikaru knew that they couldn't do anything to make Tokei mad or feel left out. That would ruin the whole friendship thing. And if there was no friendship, then there was no Tarina.

"Uh...sure...Tokei...you...can come with us," Hikaru said uncomfortably, forcing what was suppossed to be an inviting smile. "You can stay right here...in this bed...ugh...i-if you want to..." he said, gulping. He had always really liked his own bed to himself, but now he had Cyclone and a childlike, freaky time-warping demon sleeping next to him.

Oh, yeah. Tarina was going to owe him big time for this.

"Really? Thanks!" Tokei said with much gratitude in his voice as he climbed onto the bed as well. He just lay there, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Cyclone did his best to scoot away from Tokei, feeling almost as uncomfortable and pressured as Hikaru did. They both sort of just stared at him.

Tokei turned to the two staring males with wonder in his eyes. "What is it? Why do you look at me for such a long time?"

"Well, you're just laying there, staring at the ceiling. Aren't you going to try and go to sleep?" Hikaru asked him.

Tokei shook his head slightly, then went back to staring. "...No. Sleep during the night and taking up one-third of every 24-hour day up...is such a waste of time. It is best to sleep only for a few years of time, to skip through eras and actually make progress and discover more instead of waiting day after day for the change to come. I'm just here in this bed because I don't like being by myself while awake. The other forms of life nearby give me reassurance."

Hikaru blinked. To be honest, he felt even more uncomfortable knowing that one of the people in his bed was going to just be laying there wide-awake, aware of anything.

"Oooohh-kaaay..." Cyclone droned as he lay back down on his own pillow after fluffing it and yawning again. "Well, that sure was interesting. Tokei, go ahead and stare at the ceiling all you like, but everyone better keep it down. I want to sleep."

"Me, too," Hikaru yawned as he turned back the other way and shut his eyes. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Just...both of you...stay on your own sides, okay? I don't wanna hear anything."

"Goodnight," Cyclone sighed tiredly as he turned away and closed his eyes as well. In moments, he felt cold hands wrapped around his entire body and gasped slightly in surprise, whipping around to glare at Tokei.

Tokei had somehow scooched right next to Cyclone without him noticing and grabbed him, hugging him in his small, frosty hands.

Cyclone instantly started to squirm. "Uggh! You freaky goon! I am not for snuggling purposes! Get off of me, and stay off of me!"

Tokei frowned and snuggled closer and pet the poor, freaked-out Cyclone. "No, I am cold, and you give off warm, vibrant energies. Your energy has quite an attracting aroma, you know, especially for creatures like myself."

Cyclone growled, but low enough so Hikaru wouldn't awaken. "Stop calling me attractive! If you have a crush on me or something, fine, but just stay away! You're just too weird!"

"I'm not necessarily attracted to you...demons like myself do not even have orientations. I said the _aroma surrounding _your magical bliss energies can easily attract a colder creature like myself. I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable..." Tokei said meekly as he pet Cyclone one last time and let go of him.

Little Cyclone instantly sat up with a grumpy look, fixing the fur on top of his head and hopping off of the bed. "Yeah, whatever...I'm staying in another room...creep..." he grumbled as he quickly pit-pattered across the room to find another place to stay in.

Tokei merely shrugged and lay down again, looking over at Hikaru, who was right next to him. Hikaru was now wide-awake, slightly weirded out by what had just happened and hoping that he wasn't next on the list for Tokei's cuddling sessions in seek of harvesting 'energy aromas'.

"Oh, hello, I didn't realize you were awake," Tokei said, smiling at Hikaru from the other side of the bed.

Hikaru shifted uncomfortably. It was way too odd without Cyclone now. He was definitely going to get Cyclone for deserting him later. "Uh...yeaaah...I...couldn't sleep."

"...Oh. Same here. I'm a little tired, but I don't think I can go back to sleep for a few more months now."

"Wow."

"Indeed."

Hikaru then slightly turned his head to face Tokei, feeling a new air of interest. "Hey, little dude, can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you, like...know where you came from? I mean, you're the Master of Time, and that's a pretty big thing, almost like a god or something. Did you have parents or...how did you start out?" Hikaru asked eagerly. It was something he had been wanting to ask ever since he had seen the little thing come up to them in the first place at Avalanche Temple.

Tokei sighed. "I am not a result of any type of parent. I just...exist. I can't remember when I first appeared, but as far back as I can remember, I was just created and I...knew everything. I was forced to believe that I was everywhere. I'm me, I'm you, I'm time itself...I'm just everywhere, a primary source to everything about anything that has no birthdate. Always sleeping, needing rest, always taking on different forms, interfering with Earth's delicate, smooth time flow, making miracles happen...it's just me. I don't even know whether I truly came from underground or from the Upper Spirit Worlds and yet I'm essentially considered a demon. And as a demon, I really don't mean any harm to anyone, but...I just have no idea."

"You're not a demon," Hikaru replied calmly. "Or, at least, you don't have to be or act like one if you want to. You can't let anybody label you, or you'll just become the label. I had to learn that the hard way, you know."

Tokei blinked. "...Nobody likes me. Nobody ever did. The people at the Avalanche Temple...they abused me and told me that I was an ugly and wrong thing that needed to be locked up. And now that I'm here, everyone acts like I'm so odd..."

Hikaru shrugged. "Hey, you're alright. I don't think you're a bad little guy at all. And the reason why everyone acts so estranged is because they've just never met another being like you. They're amazed by it. I mean, your power's great, like the way you gave me temporary amnesia. It's incredible!"

"...They're afraid of me."

"Well, what can I say? Don't be scary, then. I can't control how others truly feel about you, and despite all of your powers, neither can you." Hikaru shrugged. "And the only solution to that is to just...not care."

"Not care?"

"Yep, that's right. I mean, of course, if everyone's telling you you're a total jerk, then you might realize and say, 'Hey, I'm being a total jerk', but if people try to put you down for the good person you are on the inside, don't let them bother you." Hikaru said in a strong, encouraging voice. Human or not, you still apparently have feelings. I mean, after all, you're the one who came to us for our friendship. That's a pretty brave thing, and you deserve all of it and more for what you're doing for us, right?"

"Right..."

"You're doing a good thing, right?"

"Right...?"

"So, I say, who cares if people are afraid if your difference?" Hikaru shrugged. "Let goons be goons. You only have the power to control yourself, and that's the reality of it, and you know that you're better than the ones who belittled you before back at the Temple, and even with the people here and now who might dislike you."

Tokei silently pondered upon this for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Yeah...I guess you're right, Hikaru. Even a spirit of my old age doesn't know much about real feelings and the ways of other people, so...I thank you for that."

"Eh, sure. You can talk to me anytime you want to." Hikaru shrugged as he yawned and finally turned around on his pillow again. "Ugh, I'm tired. It's been a long weekend. I'm going to get some rest...I...gotta train in the morning..."

"Yes," Tokei smiled a true smile of happiness as his new friend drifted off to sleep in only a matter of thirty seconds. He felt his cold, lonely exterior grow slightly warmer as he slowly closed his eyes in an exact imitation of the human sleeping next to him. "Have good dreams, Hikaru. And don't worry, we're definately going to get your sister back."

_**...Meanwhile...**_

Haku was busy getting some water in the kitchen. Zabuza was snoring away in the room the two of them were supossed to be staying in, and Haku had enough of the noise. He just couldn't sleep peacefully.

When he was finished, he quickly and quietly walked out of the kitchen to go and explore other rooms of the house, hoping to pass time until morning or at least until maybe Zabuza would stop snoring so loudly back in the room. On his way to the storage room, he bumped into Omari, who was just turning another corner of the long hallway.

Haku didn't know what to say at all. "Uh...I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming..."

Omari chuckled lightly. "Neither did I. I was just checking up on Hirokazu. He was saying strange things in his sleep and I had to make sure he was okay..."

"...Interesting." Haku mumbled, wanting to squish past Omari already and go back into his room, or at least go somewhere she wasn't. He honestly didn't feel like seeing her at all, it made him feel too bad.

Omari frowned and cocked her head. "Haku, what's wrong?"

"Nothing...it's fine. Don't worry about me, okay? Please."

"I have to worry, Haku. I care about you. Plus, you're the one everyone on the mission team needs to stay strong. I can't just let you go around crying and moping without you telling me what's wrong..."

"I-I'm not c-crying..."

"Yes, you are, Haku."

"N-no...don't worry..."

Omari cleared her throat and took Haku's arm, trying to use a comforting, soothing tone of voice. "C'mon, it's okay. We're going into my room to talk about it, alright?"

Haku didn't respond and just reluctantly let her take him over to her room. Along the way, Omari had ended up kicking something small and furry in the hallway. There was a small, childish groan that came from the floor and Omari sighed heavily. She bent down and scooped up the half-sleeping Cyclone from the hallway floor and quickly tucked him into her own bed as they entered the room.

When Omari was finished, she and Haku sat on the bedroom floor. Haku didn't even look at her as he continued to sniffle and pick at the soft green rug he was sitting upon. Omari just looked concerned.

"Haku...I just want to know this right now...are you angry at me about something?"

Haku's eyes widened as his head snapped up. "Oh, no, of course not!"

"Tell the truth."

"I am being completley honest."

"Okay, weeell..." Omari thought for a moment. "Did I happen to do anything to upset you?"

"No, Omari...none of this is your fault."

"Then whose fault is it?"

"It's...it's mine."

Omari rubbed her temples. "Haku, I know there's something wrong between you and I. You're scared to look at me, and you started crying the minute we bumped into each other in the hallway...are you afraid that _I _might be mad at _you? _Because if that's what this is about, then I'll tell you right now that I'm not upset about anything having to do with you."

Haku shook his head tearfully, speaking so squeakily and quietly that not even Cyclone (if he were awake) could pick it up at regular distance. _"No...I just..."_

Omari came closer, raising an eyebrow and straining herself to hear. "What?"

"I...just...I..." Haku suddenly grabbed Omari and pulled her into his arms, starting to bawl uncontrollably into her shoulder.

Omari blinked, not sure of what was happening at first, but then she understood. She sighed, relaxed a little, and closed her eyes, hugging the crying boy back. So, he wasn't as much over her as she had thought. This could turn into a major problem. "Haku..."

_"No...I don't want to let you go...!"_

Omari looked down. "I know how you feel, Haku."

"No, y-you don't! We won't be friends anymore if you go with Hikaru. It's not even the romance anymore...our bond was even stronger than that! We wont be anything anymore, no matter what happens and you _know_ it!" Haku sobbed even harder. "And I just can't live with that."

Omari didn't know what to say at all as she swallowed hard. _"I'm so sorry..."_

Haku finally let go of her, shaking his head and wiping his eyes with a sleeve. "No...you shouldn't be. I'm the one who should be sorry...making you feel guilty that way..."

Omari sighed and shook her head as well. Everything was just too awkward. Haku still loved her. So did she, but it was more of his comforting attitude than actually him, now that Hikaru was in the way. _"I don't know...I just don't know..."_

Haku just sat there, hugging himself, shivering and still crying a little. He wished he could have stopped, he really could, but this time he couldn't control himself at all. Omari felt horrible inside, remembering how much Haku was dedicated towards her throughout the years, while she and Hikaru's friendship didn't last nearly as long nor did seem as special.

Omari looked at him. This time, she was truly stumped of what to say. She couldn't say she loved him, and couldn't say she was sorry again. Haku would never believe her. "Ugh...I..."

Haku finally wiped his face off with a tissue and was completley done crying now, but still very upset. "I apologize, Omari. I know you're confused now, and you really shouldn't be. I gave Hikaru full permission to be with you if he wanted to, and I'm sticking to that. You two belong together."

Omari just wrinkled her brow. Haku and his promises. He never dared to go past the boundaries of what he had already set on himself, although nobody really expected a whole lot from him anymore. It made him a truly collected and respectable person, but sometimes it was just saddening.

"I...I don't know," Omari gulped and finally spoke. "You're a really special person to me, Haku."

Haku shook his head with a worried look in his eyes. "No."

"No?"

"No!"

"Why 'no'?" Omari asked. "You _are _special to me."

"Don't say that...I don't want you to be confused like that. You weren't confused before I came. I don't want me being around getting in the way of you and Hikaru." Haku fretted as he pushed his bangs aside. "I saw you staring at me when Tokei was giving the meeting. I just...do not want to make you feel like you have to choose between me and Hikaru...because you don't."

Omari shuddered, remembering how worried Haku had looked when she was staring. Maybe she was a little more confused than she had thought. But Haku was being so understanding...a person like Hikaru would never sit down and talk with her like this...

Haku's eyes widened as he noticed Omari suddenly go into a trance staring at his face. He shook her shoulders, hard. "Nooooo! Stoooop! I know what you're thinking!"

"Me, too..."

Haku put his hands to his head. "No, no, no! You can't love me! You have to love Hikaru!"

"...Do not."

"Yuh-huh!"

Omari crossed her arms. "What makes you think that? We're not officially a couple or anything, you know. Hikaru's just been putting a lot of pressure on me lately because he likes me more. I don't _haaave _to love the person everyone's telling me to."

Haku looked guilty. "I know, but I couldn't handle the guilt if you started liking me again. To be honest, I don't even like dating or any of that stuff all that much. I just liked you, and that's the last time I'm probably going to like anyone. And now, I'm trying to get over that. You should try, too."

Omari just looked down. "I know, but everything just seems different now. I mean, now that you're back..."

Haku's eyes widened even more than before. "Oh, _no_...come on, Omari, don't tell me you like me, too!"

"I don't!! Well..." Omari stopped and started to ponder.

"Awww, no!" Haku groaned. "But we caaan't! We can't like each other!"

"Haku, it's not exactly impossible."

"Well, it should be!"

Omari just looked at him with pitiful eyes. "I'm really...really...really...confused."

Haku sighed and sniffed. "Well, perhaps...perhaps when this whole mission is finished (hopefully)...you won't be so confused anymore and realize that you love Hikaru again. Maybe you're just looking for someone familiar enough to lean on for now, and I totally understand that."

Omari then scooted closer and leaned on his shoulder. "Yeaaah, maybe."

Haku looked uncomfortable as they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Haku...can I..."

"Huh?"

"Can I, like...maybe...kiss you...?"

Haku slightly gasped, sitting up more and looking at her sternly. "O-mar-iiiii! You CAN'T be serious!"

Omari wrinkled her brow. "Whaaaaat?"

"You _know_ better than that, Omari!"

"I knoooowww!" Omari groaned. "But, I thought, you know, since we were kind of in the moment-"

Haku sighed, gently leaning over and briefly kissing her on the mouth, then sitting up and crossing his arms and looking truly guilty and desperate at the same time. "...There you go. Happy?"

Omari blinked, her face bright red, but then smiled that goofy, in-trance smile she used to smile when she was little and first had a crush on Haku. "Yes, I am very happy. Thank you."

"Good, because...I'm not doing that ever again. I just didn't like to see you sad like that. You know that, right?" Haku said nervously.

"Yes. Never again."

"Good." Haku said as he finally stood up and stretched, helping her stand, too. "Now, I think we should be both getting to bed...it's been kind of a long day...and like Tokei said, we need rest."

"...Right." Omari said awkwardly with a small smile as she hugged Haku. "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

Haku hugged her back, still looking quite uneasy. "Yeah...but I sure hope what happened just now doesn't happen too often, okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, then. Off to bed for both of us," Haku said with a tiny, casual wave as he exited the room. "G'night."

Omari watched him leave for a second, with her heart pounding and hurting, then sighed and crawled into bed, pulling the sleeping Cyclone more towards her for comfort and to regain the feeling of at least artificial happiness.

Cyclone was still only half-asleep now, as he had heard everything that was said and going on between Haku and Omari. But, for some reason, Cyclone decided that he wasn't going to tell Hikaru. He didn't really need to, anyway. Hikaru just wouldn't get it.

_**...The Next Morning...**_

Haku was sitting by a tree out in the backyard area, sucking the juice from an orange with a straw. He had been training by himself for about an hour before. He felt quite lonely, and yet it was a peaceful feeling he had at the same time. It was still winter, but the snow had melted over the past few nights. Haku really didn't care whether he was sitting in wet or not.

As he sucked the last of the avaliable juice inside of the cut-open fruit, he tossed it away and stood up, sighing and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

He suddenly whipped around as he heard other footsteps coming around the area. He figured it was another person from the hideout out to train early, but he took out a kunai just in case since it was pretty foggy out.

It ended up to be the kid from Squad 300, Jiro. The kid who was basically living forever considering how slow his growth and aging rate was reduced to. The one who was suppossed to lead the mission along with Kamichi and himself. Haku sighed in relief and put his kunai away. "Oh...it's just you."

Jiro merely nodded towards what Haku had put away. He yet again spoke in a very casual, calm voice. "Hey, wait, what was that?"

"Oh, this?" Haku shrugged, pulling out one of the Golden Kunais he had saved from Omari. "It's just a Golden Kunai from a long time ago. No big deal."

"Oh," Jiro blinked at the sight of the weapon, then shrugged, too. "Nice, I guess. I can make some pretty neat kunais, too..."

"Uh...really?" Haku forced a smile, trying to get into a non-awkward conversation with this kid. "What sorts have you made?"

Jiro shrugged again as he sat down on a stump and looked at the ground in a thoughtful manner. "Eh, well, I did have a Golden Kunai a while ago. I also had Silver, Bronze, Platinum, and so on. I sort of take an interest in metals or shining objects. Well, it's more like an obsession. I probably love this earth's metals more than Tokei does."

"That sounds neat."

"Yeah, I guess. I've also made a kunai out of a dead person's brain," Jiro said, sending an instant shudder through Haku's body. "You wouldn't believe the power and types of jutsu it held within."

"A brain, huh? That's, er...pretty interesting..."

"Mhm. And there is one other kunai that I've made from my own hands and experience, and it's...well, I guess to understand it, you'd have to wait." Jiro said with a touch of finality in his statement.

Haku looked all around, confused as he settled down on a corresponding tree stump near Jiro. "Uhh...okay."

After the two of them sitting for a few seconds in silence, Jiro turned to Haku. "I sense that you are apprehensive of our mission."

"Yeah, well, you know..." Haku chuckled nervously. "This mission's pretty big. Well, at least for me, so-"

"In fact, you seem apprehensive of everything altogether and I sense that your body has adapted to that feeling. Like you've been that way for a long time. Why are you so tense?" Jiro said, seeming suddenly more interested in and concerned with Haku.

"I...I dunno...I didn't know I was that tense..."

Jiro's brow wrinkled. "Well, as you being the main leader of this mission and I being the one who guides, I'm suggesting you perhaps try to relax a little before we perform the ritual and go. Maybe you should try going to Tokei during the day and have him meditate with you for a bit. It will help."

"...Maybe."

"Hey," Jiro looked over at Haku directly after a few seconds of awkward silence. "Would you like to spar with me?"

"Uh...sure," Haku said as he hopped down from his tree stump, surprised that Jiro would actually want to do something. Perhaps it was some sort of test to compare strengths or to become friends. Either way, at least it was interesting.

Jiro slid down from the tree stump, too, and dusted himself off. "Okay, let's go, then. We'll have a quick taijutsu match. No chakra, and no brutal strikes, as such methods do not prove real skill at all. We'll fight with respect. Does that sound good to you?" he asked Haku formally as he began to stretch himself out.

"O-okay..." Haku blinked in surprise. Never had he seen someone go from absolutely casual and awkward to being completley serious and ready to fight within two seconds. Jiro's change in attitude almost...intimidating.

And what was with the no chakra or brutal strikes? Did that mean he was supossed to jab with his fingers instead of really punching? Glamorous-looking high-kicks instead of quick, lethal foot swipes? Were they going to fight in slow motion? Haku had no idea what Jiro had meant by that at all. Rogue ninja weren't usually the type to fight with what a good-doer would call "respect". Being a rogue ninja was like a totally different culture compared to the village followers. The fights went by quick and they were deadly.

Of course, Haku wasn't expecting much from a friendly sparring match, but Jiro was acting way too formal and he was confused. Nevertheless, he went out and prepared himself for the match, positioning himself accurately and having his hands ready to strike or take out any weapons.

"Are you ready, Haku?" Jiro called out as he flipped a kunai in his hands.

"Yes, I'm ready at any time you are." Haku replied calmly as he finished stretching out his fingers, planning to play free-handedly for the first few minutes. It was a brand-new opponent he was facing, something he hadn't done in years. He sure hoped he himself was ready for it...

Haku gulped. _This boy...so smug...so formal and prepared...I really hope I don't lose badly to him._

Both Jiro and Haku stood in silence for a few moments in identical poses, just staring into each others eyes from afar, waiting for that invisible signal. Then, when the timing seemed exactly right, both charged at each other at the exact same time.

Nervous and uncontrollably reckless, Haku threw a wild, fast, super-strong kick at Jiro's head as soon as he had reached him.

Jiro sneered and caught Haku's shaky right foot instantly. "Oh, come now, I don't think that's the best you can do. Loosen up a little would ya?"

Having an enraged, determined feeling wash over him, Haku threw out his fist as well, and Jiro easily caught it, but now lacking a free hand. Before Jiro could react or push Haku backward, Haku leapt up from the ground and somehow used his other foot to kick the everlasting child in the stomach.

As soon as the blow was struck, Jiro disappeared. Haku looked around wildly and confusedly, then getting a real shock when he saw the kid explode from under the ground, fist aimed at Haku's face.

How did Jiro transport underground so quickly and so quietly...?

With no time to ponder, Haku cried out in surprise and dodged the punch by a quarter of a second. As soon as Jiro had missed and reached the ground again, Haku then went into a series of lightning fast foot swipes, switching feet every time to save energy, go faster, and trip over Jiro.

Jiro jumped over each of Haku's swipes, the leapt up from the ground to kick Haku in the chest, almost near the throat. A lethal place to strike. Haku crashed to the ground, coughing a little, but quickly got back up and headbutted the charging Jiro in the head as hard as he could.

Both were sent backwards, but neither were down. Jiro didn't get a scratch from the headbutt. He quickly jumped back, then zoomed forward in a tornado-like pattern. Haku did the same, and when they collided, it was an even match. Both of the young fighters just charged for each other once again.

Haku, who had impossibly fast reflexes and struck even faster, used all of his taijutsu skills at once, throwing every fast and sneaky punch, block, elbow, and kick towards Jiro. Jiro accurately dodged everything, almost catching a blow here and there, but ended up being just an even match. Not to mention he was taking the fight very casually compared to Haku, who was all seriousness now.

Haku suddenly appeared behind Jiro and grabbed the top of his head, then picking him up and literally throwing him across the training feild with all of his strength he had for heavy-lifting. Jiro rapidly flew through the air like a dart at where Haku's hard and painful target was. As soon as he was about to hit, Jiro suddenly stopped himself from his body crashing into the tree, whipped around, and simply bounced off of it, going back towards Haku.

Caught by complete surprise, Haku was thrown backwards by Jiro's backfire, landing on the ground with Jiro on top of him, holding a kunai to his neck.

Haku just stared for a moment, the glared as he struggled to grab the kunai and try to push the threatening Jiro off of him. He wasn't this weak. The match had to last longer.

It just _had _to.

_Forget about the stupid no-chakra rule... _Haku thought furiously in his head as he sent an immediate power-surge of chakra through his body from all directions, making him strong enough to easily boot Jiro off of him and get back up on his feet in an instant.

Jiro stood, too, now with a more determined look on his face, kunai still at the ready. He lunged for Haku with the sharp weapon, but Haku dodged the swipe, whipped around, and tackled him from behind. The two fell to the floor, tussling, tangled, and confused for a moment, before they both noticed Omari standing before them.

Both Jiro and Haku instantly stopped, pulling away from each other to see Omari, who was looking at the two very skeptically but had a weird smile on her face. "Er...you two okay?"

Haku stood up from the ground abruptly after helping up Jiro, blushing in embarassment. "Oh-ho-ho, yes. W-we're just fine. Just..."

"We were just having a sparring match..." Jiro finished for him calmly. "A rather...intense one..."

Omari blinked. "Oh. Uh, okay. Well, just to let you know, you guys can come in and have some breakfast any time you like. You too, Jiro, and tell your friends inside of the tree house that they can come in, too."

"Ah, very well then," Jiro sighed as he bowed to Omari. "Thank you, I'll inform them now." he said as he quickly departed into the trees to find his teammates.

Haku smiled weakly as Omari just watched him leave. "Heh...alright. Thanks, Omari."

"You're welcome." Omari smiled warmly, then just stared at him for a moment.

Haku gave her a stern warning look. _"Omariiii..."_

Omari sighed and snapped out of her trance again. "Yeah, yeah...I know." she said as she started to go back into the house, then turned around again. "...Aren't you coming in?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna stay out here for a bit before everyone else starts coming out to train," Haku shrugged as he sat in the grass, picking slowly at a few weeds. "I'll come in and have lunch with you later, though. Okay?"

Omari twitched. "Well, okay. Don't work yourself too hard."

"I won't, don't worry." Haku said, giving her a weak, reassuring smile.

"A-alright...see you later!" Omari said halfheartedly as she slowly walked back to the hideout.

_**...Back Inside of the Hideout...**_

Tokei lightly tapped a fresh, juicy red apple against his forehead, somehow thinking that it would help him consume it.

"What...what are you doing?" Slicer asked from the chair next to him, slowly chewing his energy bar in a weirded-out manner.

"I honestly have no idea," Tokei blinked, looking down at the apple pitifully.

"You're supossed to take a bite of the apple," Hikaru's brow wrinkled. "Put it in your mouth and use your teeth to chomp it. Then, you chew and swallow it. Don't you know how to eat?"

Tokei smiled skeptically as he stroked the fruit with a few tiny fingers. "Silly human, putting the apple in between my teeth and crushing the peices would scar the poor thing. This is a beautiful object, and it does not deserve to be harmed. It deserves to be consumed in a more humane way."

"Buuuut...that's not how you're supossed to do it," Cyclone piped up from Hikaru's shoulder. "The apple isn't alive anymore, and tapping it against your head isn't going to do much for you. If you wanna eat it and get the energy from it, then you need to put it in your mouth and swallow it."

Tokei scratched his head. "But I thought mouths were used for talking. And I get my kind of energy from sleeping. Where do you get the idea that crushing plants in your mouth will give you energy."

"Mouths _are _used for talking.. But they're also used for eating." Hikaru explained to him. "And food is the main way you're supossed to get energy. Well, at least that's how us humans do it."

Tokei just stared hopelessly for a moment, then his face got as bright as a lightbulb. "Ahh, I get it now!" he exclaimed in a grand voice as he grabbed the huge apple and somehow managed to shove he entire thing in his mouth at once. He chewed thrice, then swallowed it. "Heh, heh...that was quite delicious. I thank you for telling me how to do it.

Everybody at the table had stopped what they were doing just stared over at him with freaked-out eyes.

Tokei looked around cluelessly. "What? Did I do it wrong?"

"You...how...how did you...?" Slicer started, then just shook his head and sighed. "Oh, nevermind."

_Tee, hee...they must be proud of me since I am making progress acting like a human so quickly! _Tokei shrugged, beaming, and reached again for the fruit bowl.

Omari suddenly stepped into the hideout with a flustered look on her face. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Omari," Zamu looked over at her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Omari shrugged. "Just a little tired." she then looked over at the large table before her in the dining room. "Hirokazu, come on now. Take more than that. I know you're hungry, and you're staying here until you get well again. So, eat." she said exaustedly as Hirokazu was meekly scooping very small amounts of food on his plate.

"He can't understand you, Omari," Hikaru sneered. "He doesn't know how to do anything other than take orders from his mommy. Just like how a scared little dog only listens to his owner."

"Hikaru, don't be mean," Omari sighed as Hirokazu merely sniffled. She looked around. "Hey, where _is _Masami, anyway?"

Everybody shrugged.

"Eh, I'll find her later," Omari waved off, running a hand worriedly through her hair.

Tokei gracefully floated down from his chair and stood in front of Omari, looking up at her in a very analytical way. He seemed very interested in her. "Hmm..."

"Hmm?" Omari cocked her head.

"Omari, I want you in the attic." Tokei declared as he hovered a few inches off of the ground still, ready to go. "I'm going with you."

"Wha- why?" Omari was caught off guard.

"You are going to meditate with me for about an hour."

"Oh, b-but I don't need-"

"Omari. Yes. You do. You need to come upstairs with me and _relax_." Tokei said, as his eyes suddenly got big. "Please?"

Tokei's puppy face (or "Cute Charm") did not have the same effect as Cyclone's, who triggered sympathy or mercy within his victims, nor was it similar to Haku's puppy face, which triggered infatuation in his victims. Tokei's puppy face was more hypnotizing and almost scary. It was like a force of submission, and Omari shuddered.

"Uh...right...I'll go, but only for a little bit, because I need some work done around the house." Omari nodded slowly, briefly looking back at the others as she started to go with Tokei.

Tokei turned around from his way up the stairs at Hikaru and Cyclone, beaming. "Very well then. But, as for working around the house...you won't have to worry about that. I am sure that Hikaru and Cyclone are willing to do the dishes and clean up for you. Right, Hikaru?"

Hikaru was about to burst with protest, but then quickly stopped himself. Tokei _was _a guest here, but he was also the boss. They were being taught a lesson. Besides, Omari really did need to meditate. She never got time to relax for herself anymore, after all. As much as he hated cleaning, he had to do it. "...Yeah. D-don't worry about it, Omari. We'll take care of it."

Omari looked a little surprised but quite thankful. "Thank you so much, Hikaru."

"You're welcome..." Hikaru mumbled, blushing a little but still feeling very aggravated inside.

Cyclone popped his head out of the now hollow, full watermelon rind that he had been eating inside of, his paws sticky with juice. He was, of course, willing to help Omari clean the kitchen. He knew she needed her rest with the stress of everyone's lives and sanity on her hands and Tarina's existence at stake. The whole mission had knocked some sense into him, but he wasn't sure about Hikaru. Hikaru was just as bad as Omari in his own way, if not worse.

As he and Hikaru got up and started collecting dishes, Cyclone fretted inside. Everything was so unpredictable at this point. He had wanted to go on the time-warping mission, but Tokei had said to him that he was needed here, probably to keep Omari comforted since Hikaru was actually going. Plus, he just wasn't old and strong enough to go.

Maybe none of them were strong enough to go.

Maybe they would all fail. Maybe they didn't even have a chance.

Cyclone shook all of these horrible thoughts out of his head and sighed to himself as he hopped into the sink to start scrubbing the dishes. He had to think positive. After all, he was probably the only ones left that was actually thinking altogether.

_**...Back In the Training Fields...**_

Haku had been stretching himself out again by a tree, about to try a new taijutsu attack combo that he had recently composed. He had noticed someone coming from the trees, and saw Raidon's entire group finally come out, probably going in for breakfast.

Haku stopped stretching and awkwardly waved over at them politely. "Uh, hey, guys."

Raidon waved back at him in a cheery, friendly manner as he jogged into the hideout. Yumiko just stared at him as he walked by, still digging for gold.

Taji stopped at the sight of Haku and sneered, arms crossed. Jiro had been walking a little behind his teammate and stopped as well.

Haku blinked.

Jiro poked Taji. "Hey, come on, let's go inside. It's getting chilly and I'm kind of hungry."

"Naww, wait a second," Taji said, still glowering and smiling meanly over at Haku. "What's this chick doing here?"

Haku's face fell. "I'm...I'm a boy, actually."

"I don't think so." Taji shook his head, then nudged Jiro. "Hey, check it out, dude, it's a girl pretending to be a boy!"

Jiro shook his head and spoke quietly and calmly to the extremely rude boy. "No, Taji, Haku is a boy."

"Like hell I'm believing that! Come on now. It's either a chick, or it's both."

Haku shook his head sternly, starting to get a little annoyed now. "No, kid. I'm a boy."

Taji laughed. "Okay, fine, I'll modify my final assumption. You're either a chick, you're both, or you're a seriously gay five-year-old."

Haku tried his best not to boil over. Taji was just a kid, after all. An ignorant, bigoted western-Hidden Mist kid. "Look, Taji...or, whatever your name is...I hate to break this to you, but I'm just a regular guy. And I can assure you that I'm not five years old."

"There's like, no way that's true," Taji laughed. "You even _talk_ like a sissy little girl. Even if someone's messing with you, you can't even take it like a man. You have some serious issues, whatever you are. You don't even deserve to be a ninja."

Haku looked a little upset now. "You know, you're not being very nice right now. I could insult you, too, but I choose to be more mature-acting about this. You know, if you have a question, go ahead and ask me, but if you're going to-"

"I didn't ask you a question," Taji retorted snottily, still smiling, enjoying bullying the older boy. "I was making a statement. You're totally a fricken' girl."

"But...I'm not a girl."

"Yes, you are."

"Prove it to me, then."

Haku glared at him, finally deciding to throw something back at him. "_Prove_ it to you? You're calling _me_ gay when you want me to _pull down my pants and show you_?!"

"Pff. You wish." Taji said as he stepped over to him, hands on his hips. "I never asked you to show me, anyway, you sicko." he said as he sent a chakra-filled kick towards Haku in a very uncomfortable spot. Hard.

Haku had not been expecting this at all. His eyes instantly watered up and he slowly and silently crumpled to the ground, trying not to scream out in pain, huddling up into a ball on the floor, cursing heavily. "Oww...ow...you little...uuugh..."

Taji sneered and was about to kick him again, but Jiro came up behind him and grabbed him from behind, silent before but very angry now. "Taji, leave him alone! He did nothing to you!"

Taji shoved away from Jiro and laughed. "Yeah, I know, but dorks like him just annoy me."

_"You...little...bastard..." _Haku growled furiously as he strugged to his feet with a demonic yet pained look in his eyes, staggering towards Taji.

Taji put his hands on his hips. "Ooh, what'cha gonna do now? Rub of that pretty green nail polish and eyeshadow all over my face??"

_"No..."_ Haku said as he stumbled, but then got fully to his feet and wiped his eyes. "I'm not going to anything to you."

"Ha-haaa! See that, Jiro?" Taji snickered over at him. He can't even defend himself, he's such a little girly punk. In fact, I take that back. All of the girls I've seen would have a better reaction than that.

"Well..._urgh_...perhaps...perhaps I'm the only one around who has any type of self control," Haku glared at him, still in pain.

"Self-control? Give me a break. If you had any type of self-control, why would you just decide to make yourself into such a girly, prissy little weakling? The way you are probably didn't take much thought, probably like how your momma didn't decide to take much thought on you being raised." Taji laughed.

"Because I'm better than doing things upon impulse, and I'm not immature, homophobic, and ignorant like you are," Haku said back bravely, but was still shaky on the inside. He certainly wasn't afraid of Jiro, just upset. Plus, this was the first time in a while he had dealt with a bully. A younger one, at that. Thank goodness he wouldn't be time-warping with him.

"Explain how you're better if I just dissed you in every way possible," Taji demanded, now getting a little steamed that Haku wasn't really expressing much anger or reaction towards how he was taunting him.

Haku just glared at him. "You didn't _'diss me in every way possible'_, you just kicked me and insulted me, like a toddler."

Taji crossed his arms, stepping closer to Haku and glaring straight into his eyes. "Hrm, maybe I didn't assure you enough that you're just a loser. Maybe I need to beat the self-awareness back into your girly little butt."

"You can attempt it if you like," Haku smiled cheerfully. "But you certainly won't succeed."

Jiro quickly stepped in between them with a worried look on his face. "Gentlemen, _please_! I don't want this to turn into anything violent! The last thing we need is to not get along around here!! We're stuck with each other for twelve days!"

Taji shoved past Jiro again, then shoved Haku backwards. "Shut the hell up. I don't care. This punk won't get past the first day while I'm around."

Haku's brow wrinkled, although he was pretty close to losing his cool. "Kid, you just came up to me and randomly started to fight with me! Are you seriously that dense? I don't even know you! And I really don't want to fight with you!"

"Of course you don't want to fight me," Taji smiled as he shoved him again. "You don't want me to mess up your makeup. After all, you're going on a date with Tokei later, right?"

Haku was really enraged now as he shoved Taji back, much farther than the boy had shoved him. "Touch me again. I _dare_ you to."

Jiro's eyes widened. "You guys, just stop it or I'll get someone out here! You're fighting like two academy students. Just stop it _right now_!"

Taji completley ignored his friend as he put his hands on his hips, seemingly amused with Haku's monsterous amount of anger boiling up inside of him. "Why, what are you gonna do if I shove you again?" he said as he came towards Haku more and more.

_"Break every bone in your tiny little body,"_ Haku growled as he shoved him backwards again. "Now, just get the hell away from me, and maybe you won't have to experience it."

"Oops," Taji laughed as he stepped forward and harshly kicked Haku in the shin. "Looks like I'll have to experience it now. What're you gonna do about it-"

Haku's body didn't even respond to the kick. It didn't even hurt since his body was too overloaded with flowing chakra. He suddenly lunged forward with a furious yell, with the image of an icy demon flowing behind and all around him, grabbed the unexpecting, frightened child by the head, and literally threw him as hard as possible.

As soon as Haku had done it, he was shocked and had instantly regretted it. He hadn't known what he was doing, and he didn't know where in the world the demonic power had suddenly come from. He was still in angel form. A dark energy was something that he would think of as impossible. He looked down at his hands, which were reddish and pulsating. They hurt.

But that wasn't the important situation at hand. Both Jiro and Haku watched the results of the sudden attack in horror.

Screaming, Taji flew through the air, and landed about seventy yards away into the forest pond, the impact in the water so hard that it sent a one-hundred-feet high torrent of liquid shooting up into the air, enough to knock any young shinobi out one thousand times.

When the rock, water, and a few small fish had finally slapped down to Earth again and the rumbling of the pond waves had died down a little, Haku and Jiro gasped in unison and ran over to the scene. Taji was nowhere to be seen on the water surface.

"No...noooo!" Haku screeched in a panic as he quickly dove into the pond, pushing past the rapids that were still lingering from the impact, creating an air-bubble around him so he could see clearer and find Taji.

After about fifteen seconds of searching, Haku had finally sought out Taji, who was motionless on the floor of the pond, small bubbles coming out of his mouth and blood streaming from his nose and ears. A small crater had been made where he had hit the floor underwater, and Haku cringed at the sight of him but acted quickly.

Haku quickly came up with Taji in his hands and placed him on shore, gasping with worry and just looking at what he had done. "Noooo...no, no, no...!! I-I can't believe I did this to him...something must've came over me, and..."

Jiro pushed forward and checked Taji's pulse, just as frightened. "He's...he still has a pulse...but just barely. I have to get some water out of him now..." he whispered quickly to himself as he put his hands together in a sign, waving his hands over the motionless Taji's mouth.

About a quart of water came spurting out of Taji's mouth as he instantly awakened, sitting up, coughing and hacking up vomit and blood as well. His body was scarred from when he had hit the rock on the bottom of the pond, his nose still gushing and his ears having water and blood poured from it. He was just staring out into space, shaking a little.

Haku was crying as he grabbed Taji, hugging the younger child, although he pretty much didn't know and hated him. He didn't care if Taji would call him gross or beat him up or shove him away or even throw him in the water. He didn't care. He had hurt the kid when he didn't mean to, and he would be in some deep trouble. Haku felt like the luckiest person alive since Taji was actually okay. He wouldn't have known what to do if he would have died.

Taji sniffed as he pulled a wet cloth from his pocket and held it up to his nose, slowly pushing away from Haku's embrace. He used his other hand to push his wet bangs out of the way and fix his bandanna. It was amazing that the kid was okay, able to do all of these things when he had just been thrown hundreds of feet away and crashing down to an undersea floor. He didn't say a word.

Haku was just staring, still crying. He started to beg Jiro. "Oh, my gosh...I-I'm sorry...I'm so sorry for doing this to your teammate. I-I didn't know- I...I..."

Taji then looked up from tending his bloody nose and glared at Haku. "Damn, dude. You talk about self-control, when..."

Haku burst out into sobs all over again. "I-I'm sorry...I-I had no idea. I didn't mean to throw you or hurt you that badly...let alone hurt you at all...I-I just..."

Taji just stood up from the wet ground, holding his other hand out since he was using the other to hold his wounded nostrils. "No...don't. It's cool."

"I-it's...I...what!?" Haku stammered.

"Calm down, I said it was cool," Taji said as he poked Jiro's arm, signifying that they were going to leave for the treehouse again, giving off that same little smirk that Haku had seen when Raidon had first introduced them. "I mean, you totally messed up my hairdo, but other than that, I have to say that was a pretty good move."

Haku was stunned. "I-I...cool?! I-I almost killed you!!"

"Cool indeed," Taji said as he sniffed and threw the cloth away, his bloody nose somehow gone already. He seemed to suddenly have a newfound respect for Haku, which was very surprising to him. "And hey, I can handle more hurt than you think. I think you need to teach me that move sometime."

"I-...but..."

Taji raised his eyebrows. "Don't you wanna make up for 'almost killing me'? I said, teach me that move, man. Next time we meet. Me and you are going to train together." he then tapped the stunned Jiro's arm and pulled him away, as they were both going back to their structure in the forest instead of breakfast. "Catch you later."

Haku just stood there in front of the pond, watching them leave, still stunned, heart still pounding. That kid...was he really that tough enough? Or did he have some special recovering ability?

This was pretty much beside the point, but there was so much to question. Haku had almost killed the kid and he ended up being impressed and finally giving respect towards him and asking to train with him?

"Sheesh..." Haku sighed to himself, scratching his soaking-wet head, walking back towards the hideout. "Kids, these days..."

_**...Back Inside of the Hideout's Attic...**_

Omari and Tokei were laying side-by side on the attic floor, which had been cleared out just for the two of them. It was a strange meditation position that Omari had never tried before, but Tokei had been insisting upon it for the first lesson. Tokei had created a bubble around the both of them that blocked out every sound that was capable of getting to the upper floor of the hideout.

Omari was just staring at the ceiling, breathing steadily, silent, wanting to listen to more of Tokei's comforting yet bizarre-sounding wisdom.

"This clutter around us..." Tokei said quietly next to her, referring to the mess and boxes of old things that were stored all around the room. "...It is helping you remember the good times that you have had with Tarina as a child...Haku...Hikaru...all of them..."

"Yeah..." Omari said as she blindly reached over for an old, small bouncy toy that lay on the other side of her. She touched it with a finger briefly, but made sure not to pick it up because that would make the level of her mesmerizing to an extreme level, causing her to be saddened and unsettled. She just had to relax.

"Tell me the ones you love or care about," Tokei whispered in his quietest voice, and yet Omari could still hear his voice ringing in her head. "No need to put them in order or list every single one of them. They can be living or dead. Tell me the ones...that make you happy...list them for me."

Omari did a dry swallow as she continued to stare up at the wooden attic ceiling. "Tarina...Hikaru...Haku...Master Atoshi...Zamu...Slicer...Zabuza...Kamichi...Midori...Ryo...Tomozaku...Masakaru...there's just so many more...I can't name them all..."

"That's okay," Tokei whispered back to her. "That's perfectly fine. Now...tell me about the ones you're most concerned with...tell me why you love them. Don't rush yourself, either...pretend that I have stopped time. Pretend that you have all of the time in the world...the world is yours."

"Tarina...she was the first one who ever came into my life...I don't know much about where I started out, but...as far as I'm concerned, she'll always come first," Omari said quietly as happy tears streamed down her face. "She was amazing...her laugh...her voice, her jokes...the way she believed in me and always made me feel better...she cared about me so much..."

"Yes...who else?"

"Haku...he's beautiful...I love him so much...he truly cares about me...I know he's always been busy, and he's always been awkward, but...I love him reguardless of what anybody says, and I always will...I may not be first on his list anymore...but just having him around and in my heart is what's keeping me alive...those moments we shared...I-I should go to the next person now..."

"Omari, it's okay if you talk about Haku..." Tokei turned his head to look at her. "You need to let all of your inner stress out. Don't put more on yourself by telling a lie...you talk about him as much as you like..."

Omari sighed, not caring that her voice was getting weak and scratchy. Tokei would still be able to understand her thoughts, anyway. "I dunno, I just..need him...ever since I was a kid, I thought he was so perfect...perfect for me...we would be perfect together...sometimes I question...why we were brought apart by his death...next to Tarina, he's...he's just the best person in the world right now...I need his comfort, but he's not comfortable giving that to me right now...I'm confused...but...I'm just grateful that I have him around still."

"...Good."

Omari tried to gulp again. "Hikaru...he's great...I like him so much...and I know he loves me...but I'm not sure yet about him. At first...I thought it was just a thing of lust, his feelings towards me...I thought they were nothing until that one Halloween, to be honest..."

Tokei smiled slightly. "Yes, I remember looking upon that day...when Haku came down from his world...to try and stop Kamichi from raiding a house...Hikaru only tried to stop Kamichi because he didn't want you to be upset, you know...he knows that Kamichi means a lot to you."

Omari's brow wrinkled. "Yeah...Kamichi..."

Tokei raised his hand and put it on Omari's forehead. "No...stop...don't think about him for right now. I do not want you to worry about Kamichi, of all things...you know he loves you, and you love him...don't think about how he might be mad...don't think of the bad things...I can feel your stress about him right now...just talk about something else...and continue to relax..."

"I...I want to know something..." Omari said out of the blue.

Tokei had been shutting both of his eyes but then opened one of them. "What would you like to know, Omari?"

"I...can't tell you yet...I can only tell you if...you promise to answer me...and not to lie to me..."

Tokei sighed. "Omari...I cannot promise you anything...I do not know all things nor can I tell you all things, as that will mess up future events. My own sensor is inaccurate because anything can happen, so if it's about whether we will get Tarina back or not..."

"No...it's not that...I want to know..." Omari said in a low whisper. "I want to know...where I came from...who am I? ...What am I? Who do I belong to?"

Tokei cleared his throat. "Omari...I know you weren't expecting a good answer from me, and your guess is perfectly correct...I cannot tell you what you are or where you came from...and that is for a very good reason."

"What is the reason?" Omari said in a disappointed voice.

"Because...soon...I see that you will come across a choice...a very important choice..." Tokei whispered.

"What kind of choice...?"

"The biggest choice of your life, Omari..." Tokei said, and tightened his grip on her hand. "But...do not worry about that now...forget about that...that will come...in time. You have much to learn first..."

"W-when I make that choice...will anybody be there to help me...?"

"Everyone...everyone present whom you know, who you will know and love in the future, even me...it will all come up and help you decide to choose. The past, present, and future events will all come to play...they will...they will bring you to make the right choice...I almost guaruntee it...but that is all that I can tell you."

Omari sighed and nodded. "I...I understand..." she suddenly felt herself being lifted up a little more, as the room suddenly seemed more airy. The soundpoof bubble had finally been lifted, and the session was over. She sat up from the attic floor, with the creaky sound of the wood peircing her ears since she was suddenly unfamiliar with sounds other than she and Tokei's voice.

"Mm..." Tokei hummed happily as he sat up from the ground as well, stretching out a little. "That was good meditating. Are you all relaxed now, Omari?"

"Y-yes..." Omari said truthfully, surprised by the outcome of just one hour of light conversation, a soundproof wall, and laying down. "Thank you...so much..." she smiled as she grabbed little Tokei in her arms, hugging him tight.

The hug suddenly made both feel warm inside, despite Omari's shuddery feeling already and Tokei's cold white skin. The embrace...was good...like two friends were sharing a sweet moment.

Although Tokei wasn't familiar with the ways of the human, he somehow knew how to hug the proper way, and his heart suddenly felt stronger and more free, instead of the steady _tick-tock _that had been stuck in his mind and body for centuries. Now, finally it was broken. It was protected, relieved...

_'...Comfort...'_ was the single thought that remained in the happy Tokei's head, now-fulfilled one of the four essentials for what was a true friendship.

_**...Go to the Next Chapter!!...**_

_**Long and boring and filler-ish, I know, but I had to insert something that at LEAST described the times that Tokei and Omari's group had with the whole friendship thing. Don't worry, there will NOT be a Day 2 and Day 3 in the Kingpin Kunais' hideout, but their will be chapters that focus upon Tokei's bonds with the other groups before they go on their mission and get all of the friendship elements they need to warp.**_

_**...Just to let you know beforehand. ;) Our Second Impression isn't quite coming to it's end yet, since there still is a lot more to tell (at least two more major plots, along with a possible second generation story), but as it progresses, I WILL be revealing more and more to the public (a.k.a you).**_

_**Now, back to everyone's favorite topic in the whole wide world: Orientation and Pairings. As much as this may disappoint or make you enjoy, I HAVE to do this to clear some things up as it describes my PERSONAL OPINIONS on what pairings in the series have been "detectable". These are not finalized nor do they hint anything that is gonna happen next in the story. Just what I am currently thinking of them, because these are what YOU made up for me, ladies and gentlemen.**_

_**...Couples/Rumors/Other Stuff...**_

_**OmariXHaku: ...You know what? This is cute, but sorry, people, it's not happening ever again. If you really liked this, then I suggest you go back to the First Impression if you haven't read it already because most of this features Haku and Omari being besties, and then it turns into them being together for a while. These two WILL have their moments, but it's not going to be official. Sorry!**_

_**OmariXHikaru: ...Need I say anything? / It's developing in the story and whatnot, you'll see what happens soon enough, so keep your pants on.**_

_**HikaruXCyclone: A baby animal and a teenage human...? Sorry, I don't go for that. They're buddies and they are partners in battle, and that's EXACTLY how it's gonna stay. I'm not ruining the awesome characters like that. This is just to shed some relief upon those who were reluctantly suspecting. ;)**_

_**TokeiXCyclone: ...Pwahahahahaaa. That's just funny. It's impossible, but it's just funny. Cyclone is built like Hikaru, who likes girls. Tokei's just a weirdo and he, like almost every other little boy in the world, wants a pet.**_

_**MidoriXMasakaru: This is probably my only and personal favorite. :) Yes, forever.**_

_**MidoriXTarina: ...You two need to shut up about that already. xDDD**_

_**TarinaXZabuza: It seems a little unlikely that Zabuza would actually have a girlfriend and all, but it is clear that Tarina is the one who pushes him into it, and he follows. He does like Tarina, but normally isn't the type to act upon it. They'd definitely be put down as a couple by now, I'd say, although Tarina is dead.**_

_**TarinaXOmari: This has in fact been suggested to me once. Well, what can I say? Age gets in the way, and if this couple actually existed, then the whole story would revolve around it, so I didn't want to do that. It would be stupid, so, no. I'm sure that you can make an inference that Tarina and Omari probably did have their moments outside of the major plot, but seriously, guys, they're just best friends. /**_

_**KamichiXMidori: Why bother anymore? / It's over with. It was mainly used as a stimulant for the Lonely Remedy saga, if any of you older readers remember it.**_

_**KamichiXKouki: I'll just let you know right now that this couple won't be featured a lot in the story, but it's still there.. It exists, and yeah, unlike most anime stories, their relationship is pretty clear and strong. Swoon over it all you want, not much needs to be said.**_

_**ZamuXSlicer: ...Eh, maybe, but honestly, I don't like pairing people up at all in stories because it just gets in the way. I really don't care, but if you guys really, REALLY wanted me to, I could work on it in a side-chapter. It has been suggested in the major plot like once just for the hell of it (if you've noticed) but not really. I don't think this is happening, either. We'll see.**_

_**ZabuzaXHaku: ...(flicks you off of the page) Sorry, but I think we're mature enough to handle the truth now. Not happening on any page of mine.**_

_**JiroXHaku: I just felt like throwing this out there. And the answer is, um, NO. Before anybody gets any ideas.. (END OF COUPLES LISTED)**_

_**You know what? I don't mind yaoi and yuri, but seriously, sprinkling couples just about EVERYWHERE in stories (whether it's straight or not) just ruins the fic/anime/manga or whatever you are trying to enjoy. Most of the time, it's just unnecessary and it insults the heartfelt tale within. This isn't supossed to be about love at all, and that's why I decided to get this out of the way now. I only added the couples within the story to share the bonds between the rogue ninja and to accomodate all types of anime-watchers/manga-readers.**_

_**Tell me what you guys think, aight? Till next time! :D**_


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